(·pref.) against.
2. by ·adv aside; as, to lay by; to put by.
3. by (·pref.) on; along; in traversing. compare 5.
4. by (·pref.) used in specifying adjacent dimensions; as, a cabin twenty feet by forty.
5. by ·adv near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time.
6. by ·adv passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession has gone by; a bird flew by.
7. by (·pref.) near to, while passing; hence, from one to the other side of; past; as, to go by a church.
8. by (·pref.) in the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me.
9. by (·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.
10. by ·adj 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.