{
    "term": "by",
    "partOfSpeech": "preposition",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "a1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "used for showing how or in what way something is done",
            "cefr": "a1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The house is heated by gas."
                },
                {
                    "text": "May I pay by credit card?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I will contact you by letter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "to travel **by boat/bus/car/plane**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to travel **by air/land/sea**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Switch it on by pressing this button."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "near somebody/something; at the side of somebody/something; next to somebody/something",
            "cefr": "a1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a house by the river"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Can we have the table by the window?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Come and sit by me."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "used, usually after a passive verb, to show who or what does, creates or causes something",
            "cefr": "a1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He was knocked down by a bus."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a play by Ibsen"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Who's that book by?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I was frightened by the noise."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "not later than the time mentioned; before",
            "cefr": "a1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Can you finish the work by five o'clock?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I'll have it done by tomorrow."
                },
                {
                    "text": "By this time next week we'll be in New York."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He ought to have arrived **by now/by this time**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "**By the time (that)** this letter reaches you I will have left the country."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "used before particular nouns without the, to say that something happens as a result of something",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They met by chance."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I did it by mistake."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The coroner's verdict was ‘death by misadventure’."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "used to show the degree or amount of something",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The bullet missed him by two inches."
                },
                {
                    "text": "House prices went up by 10%."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It would be better by far *(= much better)* to…"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 7,
            "definition": "during something; in a particular situation",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to travel **by day/night**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "We had to work by candlelight."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 8,
            "definition": "from what something shows or says; according to something",
            "cefr": "a2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "By my watch it is two o'clock."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I could tell by the look on her face that something terrible had happened."
                },
                {
                    "text": "By law, you are a child until you are 18."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 9,
            "definition": "past somebody/something",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He walked by me without speaking."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 10,
            "definition": "used to show the part of somebody/something that somebody touches, holds, etc.",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I took him by the hand."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She seized her by the hair."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Pick it up by the handle!"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 11,
            "definition": "used with the to show the period or quantity used for buying, selling or measuring something",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "We rented the car by the day."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They're paid by the hour."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We only sell it by the metre."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 12,
            "definition": "used to state the rate at which something happens",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They're improving day by day."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We'll do it bit by bit."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It was getting worse by the minute *(= very fast)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The children came in two by two *(= in groups of two)*."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 13,
            "definition": "used to show the measurements of something",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The room measures fifteen feet by twenty feet."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 14,
            "definition": "used when multiplying or dividing",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "6 multiplied by 2 equals 12."
                },
                {
                    "text": "6 divided by 2 equals 3."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 15,
            "definition": "used for giving more information about where somebody comes from, what somebody does, etc.",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He's German by birth."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They're both doctors by profession."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 16,
            "definition": "used when swearing to mean ‘in the name of’",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I swear by Almighty God…"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "used to introduce a comment or question that is not directly related to what you have been talking about",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": []
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baɪ/",
                "audio": "by/by/by__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/baɪ/",
                "audio": "by/by/by__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English bī, bi, be, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch bij and German bei."
}