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bynear or next to someone or something

Part of speech: PREPOSITION

Definition: near or next to someone or something

Pronunciation (IPA): /baɪ/

Example Sentences

  • I learned English by watching K-dramas with subtitles.
  • My dog sits by the door every day at 5 PM, waiting for pizza delivery.
  • By tomorrow, I promise to clean my room... or at least hide the mess.

by

PREPOSITION

[/baɪ/]

near or next to someone or something

She sat quietly by the window, watching the rain fall.
💡 Concept

She sat quietly by the window, watching the rain fall.

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🎤Pronunciation

🇺🇸 US/baɪ/
🇬🇧 UK/baɪ/

🌳Etymology

Rootby

Origin

Derived from Old English 'bi', the word evolved from Proto-Germanic with the original meaning 'near' or 'beside'. It developed into a fundamental preposition expressing spatial and temporal relationships in English.

Breakdown

bi (near/beside) → by. The word maintains its Proto-Germanic root denoting proximity and position.

🎵Rhyme

buycrydieflyhighliemypieskytry
buy
cry
die
fly
high
lie
my
pie
sky
try

🔗Collocations

one by one
by car/bus/train
by chance
by accident
by mistake
by the way
step by step

📝Examples

I learned English by watching K-dramas with subtitles.

😄 Fun example

My dog sits by the door every day at 5 PM, waiting for pizza delivery.

😄 Fun example

By tomorrow, I promise to clean my room... or at least hide the mess.

She passed by without saying hello.

📚Related Words

Synonyms

nearbesidenext tothroughvia

Antonyms

away fromfar from

Related

buybyenearbybesidebeyond

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