by and by

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by and by

adv.
After a while; soon.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

by and by

adv
presently or eventually
n
US and Canadian a future time or occasion
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adv.1.by and by - at some eventual time in the future; "By and by he'll understand"; "I'll see you later"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
فيما بَعْد، بعد قليل
co nevidětzanedlouho
lidt efter lidt
nach und nach
skömmu seinna; brátt
litt etterom litt
po chvíli
az sonrakısa bir süre sonra
不久以后

by

(bai) preposition
1. next to; near; at the side of. by the door; He sat by his sister.
2. past. going by the house.
3. through; along; across. We came by the main road.
4. used (in the passive voice) to show the person or thing which performs an action. struck by a stone.
5. using. He's going to contact us by letter; We travelled by train.
6. from; through the means of. I met her by chance; by post.
7. (of time) not later than. by 6 o'clock.
8. during the time of.
9. to the extent of. taller by ten centimetres.
10. used to give measurements etc. 4 metres by 2 metres.
11. in quantities of. fruit sold by the kilo.
12. in respect of. a teacher by profession.
adverb
1. near. They stood by and watched.
2. past. A dog ran by.
3. aside; away. money put by for an emergency.
ˈbygones: let bygones be bygones
to forgive and forget past causes of ill-feeling.
ˈbypass noun
a road which avoids an obstruction or a busy area. Take the bypass round the city.
verb
to avoid (a place) by taking such a road.
ˈby-product noun
something obtained or formed during the making of something else. Coal tar is a by-product of the process of obtaining gas from coal.
ˈbystander noun
a person who watches but does not take part.
by and by
after a short time. By and by, everyone went home.
by and large
mostly; all things considered. Things are going quite well, by and large.
by oneself
1. alone. He was standing by himself at the bus-stop.
2. without anyone else's help. He did the job (all) by himself.
by the way
incidentally. By the way, have you a moment to spare?

by is used for forms of transport: by train ; by aeroplane ; by land ; by sea
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
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