by
preposition, adverb /baɪ/Definition
B1 near, at the side of or (in distance or time) past: A small child stood sullenly by her side. He wanted to keep her close by him always. The policewoman walked by (= past) them without saying a word. The years flew by.Closeness in distance and timeAbout to happen
(Definition of by prepositionadverb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse related topics
You are looking at an entry to do with Closeness in distance and time, but you might be interested in these topics from the Space topic area:
- Above & over
- Absent
- After & behind
- Ahead, in front and beyond
- Alone
- Between
- Centres of objects
- Distant in space and time
- Edges & extremities of objects
- From, out and outside
- General location and orientation
- In & at
- Next to and beside
- On or off
- Present
- Separateness and isolation in space
- Somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, or everywhere
- Space - general words
- Surfaces of objects
- Territorial boundaries
- Through, across, opposite and against
- Under & below
Browse the Thesaurus
More Results for “by”
SMART Thesaurus
Synonyms and related words:
- a few/couple of steps idiom
- a hair's breadth idiom
- a stone's throw idiom
- anywhere near idiom
- approachable adjective (PLACE)
- closely adverb (NEAR)
- closeness noun (NEAR)
- come within an ace of sth idiom
- convenient adjective
- directly adverb (STRAIGHT)
- eyeball to eyeball idiom
- mould verb
- near adjective
- near adverb, preposition
- near verb
- nearby adverb, adjective
- neighbouring adjective
- scarcely adverb (ONLY JUST)
- squeaky adjective (SUCCESS)
- tailgate verb
Word of the Day
Blog
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
New Words
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.
