(pref.) In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me.
(pref.) On; along; in traversing. Compare 5.
(pref.) Near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side of; past; as, to go by a church.
(pref.) Used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty feet by forty.
(pref.) Against.
(pref.) 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.
(adv.) Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time.
(adv.) Passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession has gone by; a bird flew by.
(adv.) Aside; as, to lay by; to put by.
(a.) Out of the common path; aside; -- used in composition, giving the meaning of something aside, secondary, or incidental, or collateral matter, a thing private or avoiding notice; as, by-line, by-place, by-play, by-street. It was formerly more freely used in composition than it is now; as, by-business, by-concernment, by-design, by-interest, etc.
Example Sentences:
From
Definition:
(prep.) Out of the neighborhood of; lessening or losing proximity to; leaving behind; by reason of; out of; by aid of; -- used whenever departure, setting out, commencement of action, being, state, occurrence, etc., or procedure, emanation, absence, separation, etc., are to be expressed. It is construed with, and indicates, the point of space or time at which the action, state, etc., are regarded as setting out or beginning; also, less frequently, the source, the cause, the occasion, out of which anything proceeds; -- the aritithesis and correlative of to; as, it, is one hundred miles from Boston to Springfield; he took his sword from his side; light proceeds from the sun; separate the coarse wool from the fine; men have all sprung from Adam, and often go from good to bad, and from bad to worse; the merit of an action depends on the principle from which it proceeds; men judge of facts from personal knowledge, or from testimony.