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by8 entries found. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913] Virtue \Vir"tue\ (?; 135), n. [OE. vertu, F. vertu, L. virtus strength, courage, excellence, virtue, fr. vir a man. See {Virile}, and cf. {Virtu}.] 1. Manly strength or courage; bravery; daring; spirit; valor. [Obs.] --Shak. Built too strong For force or virtue ever to expugn. --Chapman. 2. Active quality or power; capacity or power adequate to the production of a given effect; energy; strength; potency; efficacy; as, the virtue of a medicine. Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about. --Mark v. 30. A man was driven to depend for his security against misunderstanding, upon the pure virtue of his syntax. --De Quincey. The virtue of his midnight agony. --Keble. 3. Energy or influence operating without contact of the material or sensible substance. She moves the body which she doth possess, Yet no part toucheth, but by virtue's touch. --Sir. J. Davies. 4. Excellence; value; merit; meritoriousness; worth. I made virtue of necessity. --Chaucer. In the Greek poets, . . . the economy of poems is better observed than in Terence, who thought the sole grace and virtue of their fable the sticking in of sentences. --B. Jonson. 5. Specifically, moral excellence; integrity of character; purity of soul; performance of duty. Virtue only makes our bliss below. --Pope. If there's Power above us, And that there is all nature cries aloud Through all her works, he must delight in virtue. --Addison. 6. A particular moral excellence; as, the virtue of temperance, of charity, etc. ``The very virtue of compassion.'' --Shak. ``Remember all his virtues.'' --Addison. 7. Specifically: Chastity; purity; especially, the chastity of women; virginity. H. I believe the girl has virtue. M. And if she has, I should be the last man in the world to attempt to corrupt it. --Goldsmith. 8. pl. One of the orders of the celestial hierarchy. Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers. --Milton. {Cardinal virtues}. See under {Cardinal}, a. {In}, or {By}, {virtue of}, through the force of; by authority of. ``He used to travel through Greece by virtue of this fable, which procured him reception in all the towns.'' --Addison. ``This they shall attain, partly in virtue of the promise made by God, and partly in virtue of piety.'' --Atterbury. {Theological virtues}, the three virtues, faith, hope, and charity. See --1 Cor. xiii. 13. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913] (a) To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare; as, to set (that is, to hone) a razor; to set a saw. Tables for to sette, and beddes make. --Chaucer. (b) To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to set the sails of a ship. (c) To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the keynote; as, to set a psalm. --Fielding. (d) To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to replace; as, to set a broken bone. (e) To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a watch or a clock. (f) (Masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the blocks of cut stone in a structure. 6. To stake at play; to wager; to risk. I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die. --Shak. 7. To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare for singing. Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute. --Dryden. 8. To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse. 9. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to variegate with objects placed here and there. High on their heads, with jewels richly set, Each lady wore a radiant coronet. --Dryden. Pastoral dales thin set with modern farms. --Wordsworth. 10. To value; to rate; -- with at. Be you contented, wearing now the garland, To have a son set your decrees at naught. --Shak. I do not set my life at a pin's fee. --Shak. 11. To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other game; -- said of hunting dogs. 12. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be learned. 13. To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill. [Scot.] 14. (Print.) To compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.; as, to set type; to set a page. {To set abroach}. See {Abroach}. [Obs.] --Shak. {To set against}, to oppose; to set in comparison with, or to oppose to, as an equivalent in exchange; as, to set one thing against another. {To set agoing}, to cause to move. {To set apart}, to separate to a particular use; to separate from the rest; to reserve. {To set a saw}, to bend each tooth a little, every alternate one being bent to one side, and the intermediate ones to the other side, so that the opening made by the saw may be a little wider than the thickness of the back, to prevent the saw from sticking. {To set aside}. (a) To leave out of account; to pass by; to omit; to neglect; to reject; to annul. Setting aside all other considerations, I will endeavor to know the truth, and yield to that. --Tillotson. (b) To set apart; to reserve; as, to set aside part of one's income. (c) (Law) See under {Aside}. {To set at defiance}, to defy. {To set at ease}, to quiet; to tranquilize; as, to set the heart at ease. {To set at naught}, to undervalue; to contemn; to despise. ``Ye have set at naught all my counsel.'' --Prov. i. 25. {To set a} {trap, snare, or gin}, to put it in a proper condition or position to catch prey; hence, to lay a plan to deceive and draw another into one's power. {To set at work}, or {To set to work}. (a) To cause to enter on work or action, or to direct how tu enter on work. (b) To apply one's self; -- used reflexively. {To set before}. (a) To bring out to view before; to exhibit. (b) To propose for choice to; to offer to. {To set by}. (a) To set apart or on one side; to reject. (b) To attach the value of (anything) to. ``I set not a straw by thy dreamings.'' --Chaucer. {To set by the compass}, to observe and note the bearing or situation of by the compass. {To set case}, to suppose; to assume. Cf. {Put case}, under {Put}, v. t. [Obs.] --Chaucer. {To set down}. (a) To enter in writing; to register. Some rules were to be set down for the government of the army. --Clarendon. (b) To fix; to establish; to ordain. This law we may name eternal, being that order which God . . . hath set down with himself, for himself to do all things by. --Hooker. (c) To humiliate. {To set eyes on}, to see; to behold; to fasten the eyes on. {To set fire to}, or {To set on fire}, to communicate fire to; fig., to inflame; to enkindle the passions of; to irritate. {To set flying} (Naut.), to hook to halyards, sheets, etc., instead of extending with rings or the like on a stay; -- said of a sail. {To set forth}. (a) To manifest; to offer or present to view; to exhibt; to display. (b) To publish; to promulgate; to make appear. --Waller. (c) To send out; to prepare and send. [Obs.] The Venetian admiral had a fleet of sixty galleys, set forth by the Venetians. --Knolles. {To set forward}. (a) To cause to advance. (b) To promote. {To set free}, to release from confinement, imprisonment, or bondage; to liberate; to emancipate. {To set in}, to put in the way; to begin; to give a start to. [Obs.] If you please to assist and set me in, I will recollect myself. --Collier. {To set in order}, to adjust or arrange; to reduce to method. ``The rest will I set in order when I come.'' --1 Cor. xi. 34. {To set milk}. (a) To expose it in open dishes in order that the cream may rise to the surface. (b) To cause it to become curdled as by the action of rennet. See 4 (e) . {To set} {much, or little}, {by}, to care much, or little, for. {To set of}, to value; to set by. [Obs.] ``I set not an haw of his proverbs.'' --Chaucer. {To set off}. (a) To separate from a whole; to assign to a particular purpose; to portion off; as, to set off a portion of an estate. (b) To adorn; to decorate; to embellish. They . . . set off the worst faces with the best airs. --Addison. (c) To give a flattering description of. {To set off against}, to place against as an equivalent; as, to set off one man's services against another's. {To set} {on or upon}. (a) To incite; to instigate. ``Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.'' --Shak. (b) To employ, as in a task. `` Set on thy wife to observe.'' --Shak. (c) To fix upon; to attach strongly to; as, to set one's heart or affections on some object. See definition 2, above. {To set one's cap for}. See under {Cap}, n. {To set one's self against}, to place one's self in a state of enmity or opposition to. {To set one's teeth}, to press them together tightly. {To set on foot}, to set going; to put in motion; to start. {To set out}. (a) To assign; to allot; to mark off; to limit; as, to set out the share of each proprietor or heir of an estate; to set out the widow's thirds. (b) To publish, as a proclamation. [Obs.] (c) To adorn; to embellish. An ugly woman, in rich habit set out with jewels, nothing can become. --Dryden. (d) To raise, equip, and send forth; to furnish. [R.] The Venetians pretend they could set out, in case of great necessity, thirty men-of-war. --Addison. (e) To show; to display; to recommend; to set off. I could set out that best side of Luther. --Atterbury. (f) To show; to prove. [R.] ``Those very reasons set out how heinous his sin was.'' --Atterbury. (g) (Law) To recite; to state at large. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913] By \By\ (b[imac]), prep. [OE. bi, AS. b[=i], big, near to, by, of, from, after, according to; akin to OS. & OFries. bi, be, D. bij, OHG. b[=i], G. bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. 'amfi`. E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. [root]203. See pref. {Be-}.] 1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from; close to; along with; as, come and sit by me. [1913 Webster] By foundation or by shady rivulet He sought them both. --Milton. 2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5. Long labors both by sea and land he bore. --Dryden. By land, by water, they renew the charge. --Pope. 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. Note: 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. Note: In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to, or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east, i.e., a point towards the east from the north; northeast by east, i.e., on point nearer the east than northeast is. Note: With is used instead of by before the instrument with which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick; the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But there are many words which may be regarded as means or processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire; he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of his sufferings. see {With}. {By all means}, most assuredly; without fail; certainly. {By and by}. (a) Close together (of place). [Obs.] ``Two yonge knightes liggyng [lying] by and by.'' --Chaucer. (b) Immediately; at once. [Obs.] ``When . . . persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.'' --Matt. xiii. 21. (c) Presently; pretty soon; before long. Note: In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of nearness in time, and to be repeated for the sake of emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to ``soon, and soon,'' that is instantly; hence, -- less emphatically, -- pretty soon, presently. {By one's self}, with only one's self near; alone; solitary. {By the bye}. See under {Bye}. {By the head} (Naut.), having the bows lower than the stern; -- said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is by the stern. {By the lee}, the situation of a vessel, going free, when she has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side. {By the run}, to let go by the run, to let go altogether, instead of slacking off. {By the way}, by the bye; -- used to introduce an incidental or secondary remark or subject. {Day by day}, {One by one}, {Piece by piece}, etc., each day, each one, each piece, etc., by itself singly or separately; each severally. {To come by}, to get possession of; to obtain. {To do by}, to treat, to behave toward. {To set by}, to value, to esteem. {To stand by}, to aid, to support. Note: The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell, and would be better written good-bye, as it is a corruption of God be with you (b'w'ye). From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913] By \By\, adv. 1. Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no person by at the time. 2. Passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession has gone by; a bird flew by. 3. Aside; as, to lay by; to put by. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913] By \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. From WordNet (r) 1.6 [wn] by adj : minor or subordinate; `by' is often used in combination; "a side interest"; "a by (or bye) effect"; "only a by comment"; "by-election"; "bye-election"; "a by-product"; "by-play" [syn: {side(a)}, {by(a)}, {bye(a)}] adv 1: so as to pass a given point; "every hour a train goes past" [syn: {past}] 2: in reserve; not for immediate use; "started setting aside money to buy a car"; "put something by for her old age"; "has a nestegg tucked away for a rainy day" [syn: {aside}, {away}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Jan 01) [foldoc] by <networking> The {country code} for Belarus. (1999-01-27) From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton] By in the expression "by myself" (A.V., 1 Cor. 4:4), means, as rendered in the Revised Version, "against myself." |
by8 entries found.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]
Virtue \Vir"tue\ (?; 135), n. [OE. vertu, F. vertu, L. virtus
strength, courage, excellence, virtue, fr. vir a man. See
{Virile}, and cf. {Virtu}.]
1. Manly strength or courage; bravery; daring; spirit; valor.
[Obs.] --Shak.
Built too strong For force or virtue ever to expugn.
--Chapman.
2. Active quality or power; capacity or power adequate to the
production of a given effect; energy; strength; potency;
efficacy; as, the virtue of a medicine.
Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue
had gone out of him, turned him about. --Mark v. 30.
A man was driven to depend for his security against
misunderstanding, upon the pure virtue of his
syntax. --De Quincey.
The virtue of his midnight agony. --Keble.
3. Energy or influence operating without contact of the
material or sensible substance.
She moves the body which she doth possess, Yet no
part toucheth, but by virtue's touch. --Sir. J.
Davies.
4. Excellence; value; merit; meritoriousness; worth.
I made virtue of necessity. --Chaucer.
In the Greek poets, . . . the economy of poems is
better observed than in Terence, who thought the
sole grace and virtue of their fable the sticking in
of sentences. --B. Jonson.
5. Specifically, moral excellence; integrity of character;
purity of soul; performance of duty.
Virtue only makes our bliss below. --Pope.
If there's Power above us, And that there is all
nature cries aloud Through all her works, he must
delight in virtue. --Addison.
6. A particular moral excellence; as, the virtue of
temperance, of charity, etc. ``The very virtue of
compassion.'' --Shak. ``Remember all his virtues.''
--Addison.
7. Specifically: Chastity; purity; especially, the chastity
of women; virginity.
H. I believe the girl has virtue. M. And if she has,
I should be the last man in the world to attempt to
corrupt it. --Goldsmith.
8. pl. One of the orders of the celestial hierarchy.
Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.
--Milton.
{Cardinal virtues}. See under {Cardinal}, a.
{In}, or {By}, {virtue of}, through the force of; by
authority of. ``He used to travel through Greece by virtue
of this fable, which procured him reception in all the
towns.'' --Addison. ``This they shall attain, partly in
virtue of the promise made by God, and partly in virtue of
piety.'' --Atterbury.
{Theological virtues}, the three virtues, faith, hope, and
charity. See --1 Cor. xiii. 13.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]
(a) To put in order in a particular manner; to prepare;
as, to set (that is, to hone) a razor; to set a saw.
Tables for to sette, and beddes make. --Chaucer.
(b) To extend and bring into position; to spread; as, to
set the sails of a ship.
(c) To give a pitch to, as a tune; to start by fixing the
keynote; as, to set a psalm. --Fielding.
(d) To reduce from a dislocated or fractured state; to
replace; as, to set a broken bone.
(e) To make to agree with some standard; as, to set a
watch or a clock.
(f) (Masonry) To lower into place and fix solidly, as the
blocks of cut stone in a structure.
6. To stake at play; to wager; to risk.
I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the
hazard of the die. --Shak.
7. To fit with music; to adapt, as words to notes; to prepare
for singing.
Set thy own songs, and sing them to thy lute.
--Dryden.
8. To determine; to appoint; to assign; to fix; as, to set a
time for a meeting; to set a price on a horse.
9. To adorn with something infixed or affixed; to stud; to
variegate with objects placed here and there.
High on their heads, with jewels richly set, Each
lady wore a radiant coronet. --Dryden.
Pastoral dales thin set with modern farms.
--Wordsworth.
10. To value; to rate; -- with at.
Be you contented, wearing now the garland, To have
a son set your decrees at naught. --Shak.
I do not set my life at a pin's fee. --Shak.
11. To point out the seat or position of, as birds, or other
game; -- said of hunting dogs.
12. To establish as a rule; to furnish; to prescribe; to
assign; as, to set an example; to set lessons to be
learned.
13. To suit; to become; as, it sets him ill. [Scot.]
14. (Print.) To compose; to arrange in words, lines, etc.;
as, to set type; to set a page.
{To set abroach}. See {Abroach}. [Obs.] --Shak.
{To set against}, to oppose; to set in comparison with, or to
oppose to, as an equivalent in exchange; as, to set one
thing against another.
{To set agoing}, to cause to move.
{To set apart}, to separate to a particular use; to separate
from the rest; to reserve.
{To set a saw}, to bend each tooth a little, every alternate
one being bent to one side, and the intermediate ones to
the other side, so that the opening made by the saw may be
a little wider than the thickness of the back, to prevent
the saw from sticking.
{To set aside}.
(a) To leave out of account; to pass by; to omit; to
neglect; to reject; to annul.
Setting aside all other considerations, I will
endeavor to know the truth, and yield to that.
--Tillotson.
(b) To set apart; to reserve; as, to set aside part of
one's income.
(c) (Law) See under {Aside}.
{To set at defiance}, to defy.
{To set at ease}, to quiet; to tranquilize; as, to set the
heart at ease.
{To set at naught}, to undervalue; to contemn; to despise.
``Ye have set at naught all my counsel.'' --Prov. i. 25.
{To set a} {trap, snare, or gin}, to put it in a proper
condition or position to catch prey; hence, to lay a plan
to deceive and draw another into one's power.
{To set at work}, or {To set to work}.
(a) To cause to enter on work or action, or to direct how
tu enter on work.
(b) To apply one's self; -- used reflexively.
{To set before}.
(a) To bring out to view before; to exhibit.
(b) To propose for choice to; to offer to.
{To set by}.
(a) To set apart or on one side; to reject.
(b) To attach the value of (anything) to. ``I set not a
straw by thy dreamings.'' --Chaucer.
{To set by the compass}, to observe and note the bearing or
situation of by the compass.
{To set case}, to suppose; to assume. Cf. {Put case}, under
{Put}, v. t. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
{To set down}.
(a) To enter in writing; to register.
Some rules were to be set down for the
government of the army. --Clarendon.
(b) To fix; to establish; to ordain.
This law we may name eternal, being that order
which God . . . hath set down with himself, for
himself to do all things by. --Hooker.
(c) To humiliate.
{To set eyes on}, to see; to behold; to fasten the eyes on.
{To set fire to}, or {To set on fire}, to communicate fire
to; fig., to inflame; to enkindle the passions of; to
irritate.
{To set flying} (Naut.), to hook to halyards, sheets, etc.,
instead of extending with rings or the like on a stay; --
said of a sail.
{To set forth}.
(a) To manifest; to offer or present to view; to exhibt;
to display.
(b) To publish; to promulgate; to make appear. --Waller.
(c) To send out; to prepare and send. [Obs.]
The Venetian admiral had a fleet of sixty
galleys, set forth by the Venetians. --Knolles.
{To set forward}.
(a) To cause to advance.
(b) To promote.
{To set free}, to release from confinement, imprisonment, or
bondage; to liberate; to emancipate.
{To set in}, to put in the way; to begin; to give a start to.
[Obs.]
If you please to assist and set me in, I will
recollect myself. --Collier.
{To set in order}, to adjust or arrange; to reduce to method.
``The rest will I set in order when I come.'' --1 Cor. xi.
34.
{To set milk}.
(a) To expose it in open dishes in order that the cream
may rise to the surface.
(b) To cause it to become curdled as by the action of
rennet. See 4
(e) .
{To set} {much, or little}, {by}, to care much, or little,
for.
{To set of}, to value; to set by. [Obs.] ``I set not an haw
of his proverbs.'' --Chaucer.
{To set off}.
(a) To separate from a whole; to assign to a particular
purpose; to portion off; as, to set off a portion of
an estate.
(b) To adorn; to decorate; to embellish.
They . . . set off the worst faces with the
best airs. --Addison.
(c) To give a flattering description of.
{To set off against}, to place against as an equivalent; as,
to set off one man's services against another's.
{To set} {on or upon}.
(a) To incite; to instigate. ``Thou, traitor, hast set on
thy wife to this.'' --Shak.
(b) To employ, as in a task. `` Set on thy wife to
observe.'' --Shak.
(c) To fix upon; to attach strongly to; as, to set one's
heart or affections on some object. See definition 2,
above.
{To set one's cap for}. See under {Cap}, n.
{To set one's self against}, to place one's self in a state
of enmity or opposition to.
{To set one's teeth}, to press them together tightly.
{To set on foot}, to set going; to put in motion; to start.
{To set out}.
(a) To assign; to allot; to mark off; to limit; as, to
set out the share of each proprietor or heir of an
estate; to set out the widow's thirds.
(b) To publish, as a proclamation. [Obs.]
(c) To adorn; to embellish.
An ugly woman, in rich habit set out with
jewels, nothing can become. --Dryden.
(d) To raise, equip, and send forth; to furnish. [R.]
The Venetians pretend they could set out, in
case of great necessity, thirty men-of-war.
--Addison.
(e) To show; to display; to recommend; to set off.
I could set out that best side of Luther.
--Atterbury.
(f) To show; to prove. [R.] ``Those very reasons set out
how heinous his sin was.'' --Atterbury.
(g) (Law) To recite; to state at large.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]
By \By\ (b[imac]), prep. [OE. bi, AS. b[=i], big, near to, by,
of, from, after, according to; akin to OS. & OFries. bi, be,
D. bij, OHG. b[=i], G. bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. 'amfi`.
E. prefix be- is orig. the same word. [root]203. See pref.
{Be-}.]
1. In the neighborhood of; near or next to; not far from;
close to; along with; as, come and sit by me. [1913
Webster]
By foundation or by shady rivulet He sought them
both. --Milton.
2. On; along; in traversing. Compare 5.
Long labors both by sea and land he bore. --Dryden.
By land, by water, they renew the charge. --Pope.
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.
Note: 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.
Note: In boxing the compass, by indicates a pint nearer to,
or towards, the next cardinal point; as, north by east,
i.e., a point towards the east from the north;
northeast by east, i.e., on point nearer the east than
northeast is.
Note: With is used instead of by before the instrument with
which anything is done; as, to beat one with a stick;
the board was fastened by the carpenter with nails. But
there are many words which may be regarded as means or
processes, or, figuratively, as instruments; and
whether with or by shall be used with them is a matter
of arbitrary, and often, of unsettled usage; as, to a
reduce a town by famine; to consume stubble with fire;
he gained his purpose by flattery; he entertained them
with a story; he distressed us with or by a recital of
his sufferings. see {With}.
{By all means}, most assuredly; without fail; certainly.
{By and by}.
(a) Close together (of place). [Obs.] ``Two yonge knightes
liggyng [lying] by and by.'' --Chaucer.
(b) Immediately; at once. [Obs.] ``When . . . persecution
ariseth because of the word, by and by he is
offended.'' --Matt. xiii. 21.
(c) Presently; pretty soon; before long.
Note: In this phrase, by seems to be used in the sense of
nearness in time, and to be repeated for the sake of
emphasis, and thus to be equivalent to ``soon, and
soon,'' that is instantly; hence, -- less emphatically,
-- pretty soon, presently.
{By one's self}, with only one's self near; alone; solitary.
{By the bye}. See under {Bye}.
{By the head} (Naut.), having the bows lower than the stern;
-- said of a vessel when her head is lower in the water
than her stern. If her stern is lower, she is by the
stern.
{By the lee}, the situation of a vessel, going free, when she
has fallen off so much as to bring the wind round her
stern, and to take her sails aback on the other side.
{By the run}, to let go by the run, to let go altogether,
instead of slacking off.
{By the way}, by the bye; -- used to introduce an incidental
or secondary remark or subject.
{Day by day}, {One by one}, {Piece by piece}, etc., each day,
each one, each piece, etc., by itself singly or
separately; each severally.
{To come by}, to get possession of; to obtain.
{To do by}, to treat, to behave toward.
{To set by}, to value, to esteem.
{To stand by}, to aid, to support.
Note: The common phrase good-by is equivalent to farewell,
and would be better written good-bye, as it is a
corruption of God be with you (b'w'ye).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]
By \By\, adv.
1. Near; in the neighborhood; present; as, there was no
person by at the time.
2. Passing near; going past; past; beyond; as, the procession
has gone by; a bird flew by.
3. Aside; as, to lay by; to put by.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]
By \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.
From WordNet (r) 1.6 [wn]
by
adj : minor or subordinate; `by' is often used in combination; "a
side interest"; "a by (or bye) effect"; "only a by
comment"; "by-election"; "bye-election"; "a
by-product"; "by-play" [syn: {side(a)}, {by(a)}, {bye(a)}]
adv 1: so as to pass a given point; "every hour a train goes past"
[syn: {past}]
2: in reserve; not for immediate use; "started setting aside
money to buy a car"; "put something by for her old age";
"has a nestegg tucked away for a rainy day" [syn: {aside},
{away}]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Jan 01) [foldoc]
by
<networking> The {country code} for Belarus.
(1999-01-27)
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]
By
in the expression "by myself" (A.V., 1 Cor. 4:4), means, as
rendered in the Revised Version, "against myself."
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