by

preposition

• 1identifying the agent performing an action.
• after a passive verb:the door was opened by my cousin Annie damage caused by fire
• after a noun denoting an action:further attacks by the mob a clear decision by the electorate
• identifying the author of a text, idea, or work of art:a book by Ernest Hemingway

• 2 [often with verbal noun] indicating the means of achieving something:malaria can be controlled by attacking the parasite they plan to provide further working capital by means of borrowing
• indicating a term to which an interpretation is to be assigned:what is meant by “fair?”
• indicating a name according to which a person is known:she mostly calls me by my last name
• indicating the means of transport selected for a journey:traveling by train to Boston
• indicating the other parent of someone’s child or children:Richard is his son by his third wife
• indicating the sire of a pedigree animal, especially a horse:a black filly by Goldfuerst
• (followed by a noun without an adjective) in various phrases indicating how something happens:I heard by chance that she has married again Anderson, by contrast, rejects this view she ate by candlelight

• 3indicating the amount or size of a margin:the shot missed her by miles the raising of taxes by 2.5%
• indicating a unit of measurement:billing is by the minute
• in phrases indicating something happening repeatedly or progressively, typically with repetition of a unit of time:colors changing minute by minute the risk becomes worse by the day
• identifying a parameter:a breakdown of employment figures by age and occupation
• expressing multiplication, often in dimensions:a map measuring 24 by 36 inches she multiplied it by 89

• 4indicating a deadline or the end of a particular time period:I’ve got to do this report by Monday by now Kelly needed extensive physiotherapy

• 5indicating location of a physical object beside a place or object:remains were discovered by the roadside the lamp was by the door
• past; beyond:I drove by our house

• 6indicating the period in which something happens:this animal always hunts by night

• 7concerning; according to:anything you do is all right by me she had done her duty by him

• 8used in mild oaths:it was the least he could do, by God

  [partly translating French par 'through the medium or agency of']

adverb

• so as to go past:a car flashed by on the other side of the road he let only a moment go by

noun (plural byes)

• variant spelling of bye¹.