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[by any means] See: BY NO MEANS.

[by a thread] See: HANG BY A THREAD.

[by chance]{adv. phr.} Without any cause or reason; by accident; accidentally. •/Tom met Bill by chance./ •/The apple fell by chance on Bobby’s head./

[by choice]{adv. phr.} As a result of choosing because of wanting to; freely. •/John helped his father by choice./ •/Mary ate a plum, but not by choice. Her mother told her she must eat it./

[by dint of]{prep.} By the exertion of; by the use of; through. •/By dint of sheer toughness and real courage, he lived through the jungle difficulties and dangers./ •/His success in college was largely by dint of hard study./

[bye] See: BY THE WAY also BY THE BYE.

[by ear]{adv. phr.} 1. By sound, without ever reading the printed music of the piece being played. •/The church choir sang the hymns by ear./ 2. Waiting to see what will happen. •/I don’t want to plan now; let’s just play it by ear./

[by far]{adv. phr.} By a large difference; much. •/His work was better by far than that of any other printer in the city./ •/The old road is prettier, but it is by far the longer way./ Compare: FAR AND AWAY.

[by fits and starts] or [jerks]{adv. phr.} With many stops and starts, a little now and a little more later; not all the time; irregularly. •/He had worked on the invention by fits and starts for several years./ •/You will never get anywhere if you study just by fits and starts./ Compare: FROM TIME TO TIME, OFF AND ON.

[bygone] See: LET BYGONES BE BYGONES.

[by heart]{adv. phr.} By exact memorizing; so well that you remember it; by memory. •/The pupils learned many poems by heart./ •/He knew the records of the major league teams by heart./

[by hook or by crook]{adv. phr.} By honest ways or dishonest in any way necessary. •/The wolf tried to get the little pigs by hook or by crook./ •/The team was determined to win that last game by hook or by crook, and three players were put out of the game for fouling./

[by inches]{adv. phr.} By small or slow degrees; little by little; gradually. •/The river was rising by inches./ •/They got a heavy wooden beam under the barn for a lever, and managed to move it by inches./ •/He was dying by inches./

[by leaps and bounds]{adv. phr.} With long steps; very rapidly. •/Production in the factory was increasing by leaps and bounds./ •/The school enrollment was going up by leaps and bounds./

[by means of]{prep.} By the use of; with the help of. •/The fisherman saved himself by means of a floating log./ •/By means of monthly payments, people can buy more than in the past./

[by mistake]{adv. phr.} As the result of a mistake; through error. •/He picked up the wrong hat by mistake./

[by no means] or [not by any means] also [by no manner of means] or [not by any manner of means]{adv. phr.} Not even a little; certainly not. •/He is by no means bright./ •/"May I stay home from school?" "By no means."/ •/Dick worked on his project Saturday, but he is not finished yet, by any means./ Contrast: BY ALL MEANS.

[B.Y.O.] (Abbreviation) {informal} Bring Your Own. Said of a kind of party where the host or hostess does not provide the drinks or food but people ring their own.

[B.Y.O.B.] (Abbreviation) {informal} Bring Your Own Bottle. Frequently written on invitations for the kind of party where people bring their own liquor.

[by oneself]{adv. phr.} 1. Without any others around; separate from others; alone. •/The house stood by itself on a hill./ •/Tom liked to go walking by himself./ •/Betty felt very sad and lonely by herself./ 2. Without the help of anyone else; by your own work only. •/John built a flying model airplane by himself./ •/Lois cleaned the house all by herself./

[by one’s own bootstraps] See: PULL ONE SELF UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS.

[by storm] See: TAKE BY STORM.

[by surprise] See: TAKE BY SURPRISE.

[by the board] See: GO BY THE BOARD also PASS BY THE BOARD.

[by the bootstraps] See: PULL ONESELF UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS.

[by the bye] See: BY THE WAY.

[by the dozen] or [by the hundred] or [by the thousand]{adv. phr.} Very many at one time; in great numbers. •/Tommy ate cookies by the down./ Often used in the plural, meaning even larger numbers. •/The ants arrived at the picnic by the hundreds./ •/The enemy attacked the fort by the thousands./

[by the horns] See: TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORNS.

[by the hundred] See: BY THE DOZEN.

[by the nose] See: LEAD BY THE NOSE.

[by the piece]{adv. phr.} Counted one piece at a time, separately for each single piece. •/John bought boxes full of bags of potato chips and sold them by the piece./ •/Mary made potholders and got paid by the piece./

[by the seat of one’s pants] See: FLY BY THE SEAT OF ONE’S PANTS.

[by the skin of one’s teeth]{adv. phr.} By a narrow margin; with no room to spare; barely. •/The drowning man struggled, and I got him to land by the skin of my teeth./ •/She passed English by the skin of her teeth./ Compare: SQUEAK THROUGH, WITHIN AN ACE OF or WITHIN AN INCH OF.

[by the sweat of one’s brow]{adv. phr.} By hard work; by tiring effort; laboriously. •/Even with modern labor-saving machinery, the farmer makes his living by the sweat of his brow./

[by the thousand] See: BY THE DOZEN.

[by the way] also [by the bye]{adv. phr.} Just as some added fact or news; as something else that I think of. — Used to introduce something related to the general subject, or brought to mind by it. •/We shall expect you; by the way, dinner will be at eight./ •/I was reading when the earthquake occurred, and, by the way, it was The Last Days of Pompeii that I was reading./