Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary -- Volume AB1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me. By foundation or by shady rivulet 2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5. Long labors both by sea and land he bore. By land, by water, they renew the charge. 3. Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side of; past; as, to go by a church. 4. Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty feet by forty. 5. Against. [Obs.] Tyndale [1. Cor. iv. 4]. 6. With, as means, way, process, etc.; through means of; with aid of; through; through the act or agency of; as, a city is destroyed by fire; profit is made by commerce; to take by force. To the meaning of by, as denoting means or agency, belong, more or less closely, most of the following uses of the word: (a) It points out the author and producer; as, "Waverley", a novel by Sir W.Scott; a statue by Canova; a sonata by Beethoven. (b) In an oath or adjuration, it indicates the being or thing appealed to as sanction; as, I affirm to you by all that is sacred; he swears by his faith as a Christian; no, by Heaven. (c) According to; by direction, authority, or example of; after; -- in such phrases as, it appears by his account; ten o'clock by my watch; to live by rule; a model to build by. (d) At the rate of; according to the ratio or proportion of; in the measure or quantity of; as, to sell cloth by the yard, milk by the quart, eggs by the dozen, meat by the pound; to board by the year. (e) In comparison, it denotes the measure of excess or deficiency; when anything is increased or diminished, it indicates the measure of increase or diminution; as, larger by a half; older by five years; to lessen by a third. (f) It expresses continuance or duration; during the course of; within the period of; as, by day, by night. (g) As soon as; not later than; near or at; -- used in expressions of time; as, by this time the sun had risen; he will be here by two o'clock. |