Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

by and by

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.32 in modern English

Syllables: by and -by
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

After a short time.

adv

After an indefinite period.

adv

Immediately; at once.

Obsolete

noun

Heaven; the hereafter. Usually preceded with "the sweet."

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"O, how this spring of love resembleth The uncertain glory of an April day Which now shows all the beauty of the sun, And by and by a cloud takes all away!"
"Two anons and a by and by is an hour and a half."
"a. 1822, Percy Bysshe Shelley "On the Symposium, or Preface to the Banquet of Plato" "You are laughing at me, Socrates," said Agathon, "but you and I will decide this controversy about wisdom by and by, taking Bacchus for our judge. At present turn to your supper.""
"I'll never beat you, I never lie / And if you're evil, I'll forgive you by and by, 'cause / You, I would die for you, yeah / Darling, if you want me to"
"Sit down, have a rest, and by and by you'll be feeling better."
"She said herself She would forgive him, by and by, not now — For her own sake then, if not for mine — not now —- But by and by."

Etymology

From Middle English by and by (“side by side, close together, alongside, on and on, continually, again and again, repeatedly”), equivalent to by + and + by.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: by and by

Usage

Inflected Forms

by-and-by (alternative) by and bye (alternative, dated) byemby (alternative) byembye (alternative, obsolete)

Synonyms

shortly soon in due course sooner or later now stat other side spirit world sweet hereafter: see also Thesaurus:afterlife

Questions

What does by and by mean?: After a short time.
Where does by and by come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce by and by

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “by and by”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “by and by”.
Repeat and practice — Say “by and by” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.