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Từ điển LongMan Dictionary

I. preposition
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a bill is passed by parliament (=it is made into a law)
▪ The bill was passed by Parliament last May.
a month passes/goes by
▪ Seven months went by before he returned.
a relation by marriage
▪ She’s a relation by marriage because she married my cousin.
a relative by marriage
▪ How many women would be willing to care for distant relatives by marriage?
an offence punishable by/with sth
▪ Possession of the drug is an offence punishable by up to one year’s imprisonment.
as the days/weeks/years go by
▪ As the weeks went by, I became more and more worried.
as time goes by
▪ Things will get easier as time goes by.
be bound by a vow (=to have promised seriously to do something)
▪ She told him she was bound by a vow not to tell any other person.
be bound by an agreement (=have to obey the conditions of an official agreement)
▪ India is bound by the agreements signed under the World Trade Organisation.
be bound by an oath (=have sworn an oath)
▪ These chiefs were bound to him by oaths of loyalty.
be bound by rules (=have to obey them)
▪ Solicitors are bound by strict rules that regulate their professional conduct.
be consumed with/racked with/overwhelmed by guilt (=feel very guilty)
▪ Later he was horrified that he had hit her, and was racked by guilt.
be covered by a scheme (=be able to benefit from a scheme)
▪ All employees are covered by the new bonus scheme.
be covered by insurance (=be included in an insurance policy)
▪ Flood damage isn't covered by the insurance.
be cut off by the tide (=become trapped as the sea rises)
▪ Two anglers had to be rescued after getting cut off by the tide.
be destroyed by fire/a bomb/earthquake etc
▪ The building was destroyed by fire in 2004.
be dogged by controversy (=cause controversy in a way that is a problem)
▪ Even before it was introduced, the system was dogged by controversy.
be dogged by misfortune (=have a lot of bad luck over a period of time)
▪ The project seemed dogged by misfortune.
be far from clear/be by no means clear (=be very unclear)
▪ The directions she gave me were far from clear.
be funded by a grant
▪ The expansion of the computer department was funded by a government grant.
be funded by donations (=receive the money that is needed from donations)
▪ We are a charity entirely funded by voluntary donations.
be gripped by fear (=be very afraid)
▪ We were gripped by fear as the boat was tossed around by the waves.
be haunted by the memory of sth (=be unable to forget something unhappy)
▪ He is haunted by memories of his unhappy childhood.
be hit by a recession (=be badly affected by it)
▪ Rural areas have been hardest hit by the recession.
be paid by the hour/day/week
▪ I was working on a building site, being paid by the hour.
be powered by electricity
▪ In an emergency, the hospital can be powered by electricity from a generator.
be surrounded by controversy
▪ The circumstances of her death were surrounded by controversy.
bleached by the sun
▪ The wood had been bleached by the sun.
born/delivered etc by caesarean
▪ Both her children were born by caesarean section.
bound (by sth) to do sth
▪ The Foundation is bound by the treaty to help any nation that requests aid.
by a long way/shotinformal (also by a long chalk British English) (= used when something is much better, quicker, cheaper etc)
▪ It was his best performance this year, by a long way.
by a strange quirk of fate
▪ Years later, by a strange quirk of fate, she found herself sitting next to him on a plane.
by a vote of...to
▪ The motion was passed by a vote of 215 to 84.
by British/African etc standards
▪ Class sizes are small by British standards.
by common consent (=with everyone’s agreement)
▪ Joe was chosen as captain by common consent.
by far the best
▪ One girl stood out as by far the best singer.
by far the worst (=much worse than any other)
▪ Last year was by far the worst for road accidents.
by inches
▪ The bus missed us by inches.
by its very nature
▪ Capitalist society is by its very nature unstable.
by kind permission of sbformal (= used for thanking someone for allowing something)
▪ This photograph is reproduced by kind permission of Country Living.
by modern standards/today’s standards
▪ The technology was crude by modern standards.
by our standards (=judging by what we are used to)
▪ The equipment was very old-fashioned by our standards.
by prior arrangement
▪ Visitors can tour the burial tombs by prior arrangement.
by the looks of it (=that is how it seems)
▪ The neighbours are back from holiday by the looks of it.
by the simple expedient of
▪ Moore escaped by the simple expedient of lying down in a clump of grass.
By the time...rolled around
▪ By the time Wednesday rolled around, I still hadn’t finished.
(by/from) force of habit (=used about a habit that is difficult to change)
▪ I still walk by his house each day - force of habit, I suppose.
by...own admission
▪ Reese, by his own admission, lacks the necessary experience.
by/through peaceful means
▪ We must redistribute power in this country by peaceful means.
by...votes to
▪ The proposal was rejected by 19 votes to 7.
call sb by their first/full etc name (=use that name when you speak to them)
▪ Everyone called him by his first name.
changed...name by deed poll
▪ Steve changed his name by deed poll to Elvis Presley-Smith.
chosen by lot
▪ In Athens at that time, judges were chosen by lot.
close by
▪ Her father lives quite close by.
come by car/train/bus etc
▪ Will you be coming by train?
comply with/abide by/observe a ruleformal (= obey it)
▪ All members must comply with the rules of the organization.
▪ There is little that one country can do if another fails to abide by the rules.
▪ We expect you to observe the general rules of conduct as set out below.
count by twos/fives etc
▪ It’s quicker to count by tens saying 10, 20, 30 ....
decrease/fall by half (=become 50% less)
▪ Share prices fell by half.
defeat sb by sth
▪ We were defeated by 3 goals to 2.
divide one number by another
▪ You can’t divide a prime number by any other number, except 1.
go by bus/train/car etc
▪ It’ll be quicker to go by train.
go by the name of ... (=be called something by people, often when that is not your real name)
▪ As he had long red hair, he went by the name of Red.
go by/travel by train
▪ We decided to go by train.
go by/travel by train
▪ We decided to go by train.
go down by 10%/250/$900 etc
▪ Spending has gone down by 2%.
go somewhere by bike
▪ I usually go to work by bike.
go up by 10%/250/£900 etc
▪ Unemployment in the country has gone up by a million.
go/come/arrive by taxi
▪ I went back home by taxi.
go/travel by bus
▪ I usually go to work by bus.
go/travel by car
▪ I try to use public transport instead of going by car.
go/travel by coach
▪ We spent three days travelling by coach across France.
greet sb by name (=use someone’s name when you see them)
▪ The waiter greeted him by name.
had gone by the book (=had obeyed all the rules)
▪ There was no doubt that the referee had gone by the book.
hard by
▪ in a house hard by the city gate
hard to come by
▪ Jobs were hard to come by.
hard to come by (=difficult to find or get)
▪ Permanent jobs are hard to come by.
hardly a day/week/month etc goes by without/when (=used to say that something happens almost every day, week etc)
▪ Hardly a month goes by without another factory closing down.
hardly a day/week/month etc goes by
▪ Hardly a week goes by without some food scare being reported in the media.
If by any chance
▪ If by any chance you can’t manage dinner tonight, perhaps we can at least have a drink together.
If...are anything to go by
▪ If his past plays are anything to go by, this should be a play worth watching.
in days/times/years etc gone by (=in the past)
▪ These herbs would have been grown for medicinal purposes in days gone by.
in years gone by (=in the past)
▪ The old fort defended the island in years gone by.
increase/rise by half (=become 50% more)
▪ The number of passengers using the service has increased by half.
judge by appearances (=make judgements based on the way sb/sth looks)
▪ You shouldn’t judge by appearances.
judging by sb’s reactions
▪ Judging by the audience’s reactions, the show will be a great success.
know sb by name (=know their name)
▪ The headteacher knew all the children by name.
know...by sight (=I often see her but have not really spoken to her)
▪ I only know her by sight.
laid down by statute (=established by law)
▪ Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute .
lead by example (=show people what they should do by doing it yourself)
▪ The captain of the team should lead by example.
lead by ten points/two goals etc
▪ Nadal was leading by two sets.
learning...by rote
▪ In old-fashioned schools, much learning was by rote.
lose by a large/small etc margin
▪ He lost by only a narrow margin.
lose (sth) by 1 goal/10 votes/20 points etc
▪ The government lost by one vote.
▪ The Communist candidate lost by a whisker a very small amount.
mean sth by a remark
▪ What did you mean by that remark?
moment to moment/moment by moment (=used for emphasizing that something changes quickly)
▪ The colours of the sunset changed moment to moment.
multiply one number by another
▪ What happens if you multiply a postive number by a negative number?
navigate by the stars
▪ Early explorers used to navigate by the stars.
not by a long way/shotinformal (also not by a long chalk British English) (= not at all or not nearly)
▪ He had not told Rory everything, not by a long shot.
obtaining money by deception
▪ He was convicted of obtaining money by deception.
pay by card
▪ Is it all right if I pay by card?
pay (by) cash
▪ They won’t take credit cards, so you have to pay cash.
pay by cheque
▪ You can pay by cheque or credit card.
pay by cheque
▪ I filled up with petrol and then paid by cheque.
pay by credit card
▪ The hotel does not charge more if you pay by credit card.
pay...by...instalments
▪ They’re letting me pay for the washing machine by monthly instalments.
pay/charge by the hour (=pay or charge someone according to the number of hours it takes to do something)
▪ You can pay by the hour to hire a boat.
piece by piece (=one part at a time)
▪ The fireplace was carefully dismantled piece by piece.
play by the rules (=do what is expected and agreed)
▪ The system works well enough — as long as everyone plays by the rules.
play it by ear
▪ We’ll see what the weather’s like and play it by ear.
possessed by the devil
▪ She was convinced he was possessed by the devil.
protected by copyright
▪ The database will be protected by copyright.
purely by chance
▪ It happened purely by chance.
reduce/cut sth by half (=make something 50% smaller or 50% less)
▪ The company has reduced the number of staff by half.
rule by decree (=make all the important decisions himself)
▪ He announced that henceforth he would rule by decree.
send sth by post
▪ They sent me the contract by post.
send sth by post/sea/air etc
▪ Monday is the last day to send cards by post to arrive by Christmas.
stand idly by
▪ I cannot stand idly by and let him take the blame.
sth is by no means certain (=not definite)
▪ Victory was by no means certain for Smith.
sth is damaged/destroyed by fire
▪ The school was badly damaged by fire.
stick by a decision/promise etc
▪ He has stuck by his radical plans for economic reform.
stick to/go by the rulesinformal (= obey them)
▪ We all have to stick to the rules.
struck by lightning
▪ The temple burned down after it was struck by lightning last year.
struck by...bolt of lightning
▪ There’s not much left of his house after it was struck by a bolt of lightning.
stuck by...through thick and thin
▪ Jean has stuck by her husband through thick and thin.
take sb by the arm (=lead someone somewhere holding their arm)
▪ ‘It’s this way’ he said, taking me by the arm.
take sb by the hand (=hold someone’s hand in order to take them somewhere)
▪ She took the boy by the hand and led him across the street.
Take...step by step
▪ Take each lesson step by step.
that’s fine by me/that’s fine with me etcspoken (= used when saying that you do not mind about something)
▪ If Scott wanted to keep his life secret, that was fine by her.
time passes/goes by
▪ As time passed, she thought less and less about her family back home.
travel by train/car/air etc
▪ Emily hated travelling by train.
trial by jury (=a trial with a jury)
▪ Defendants have a right to trial by jury.
trivial by comparison
▪ Her feelings for Simon seemed trivial by comparison.
typified by
▪ non-violent protest, typified by Gandhi
undercharge sb by £1/$2 etc
▪ They undercharged me by about $2.
was...touched by (=doubt affected him)
▪ He was often touched by doubt .
what is meant by
▪ The report fails to define what is meant by the term ‘key issues’.
(whether) by fair means or foul (=using unfair methods if necessary)
▪ They were determined to achieve victory, by fair means or foul.
win by 10 points/ten metres etc
▪ We won by 23 points.
win by a large/small etc margin
▪ The party won by a huge margin.
win/lose by 5/10 etc points
▪ We only lost by two points.
won by a landslide
▪ The SNP candidate won by a landslide.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
(all) by herself
▪ She raised her daughter by herself.
▪ She was sitting at a table by herself.
▪ By herself she could jump over fences and ditches better than her brothers.
▪ Ellie McGlynn was there, standing by herself on the front porch.
▪ He sidled into her mind, usually when she was by herself but not always; he wasn't shy.
▪ It was so tragic that the girl should be going through all this by herself.
▪ Minna had gone away quietly all by herself, probably to meet Zbigniew Shapira at a Danzig hotel.
▪ She wanted to be by herself, where there were no lights.
▪ She was too weak to get out of bed by herself, but she might be calling Lester to help her.
▪ She wouldn't have to deal with Anna by herself.
(all) by himself
▪ Don's traveling by himself.
▪ He's standing up by himself already.
▪ But on the campaign trail, Coles sometimes seems like a boxer in the ring by himself.
▪ He walked slowly, all by himself.
▪ He was to be placed with another inmate the next day, but wound up in a cell by himself.
▪ I think Sadlowski by himself could have kept it that simple.
▪ Once Hopkinson arrived late for breakfast to find the Colonel by himself reading a newspaper.
▪ Sir Henry agreed to help in this way, and to go by himself to the Stapletons that evening.
▪ The day he stood alone, by himself, without holding on, he roared out his triumph.
▪ When the officers retired, Hashim used to jump down and play squash by himself.
(all) by itself
▪ The door's not going to close by itself.
▪ Will the dog be safe left in the car by itself?
▪ About twice as many, for depression by itself.
▪ But then, I think the Nagumo Force can handle this operation all by itself.
▪ It's in there by itself.
▪ Let the fatuous sun shine by itself and let's head for the moon.
▪ Perhaps now he could see why the drawing was in a space by itself.
▪ The growth in members is meaningless all by itself.
▪ The threat of lawsuits by itself is a major factor in driving up health care costs.
▪ To begin with, by itself it doesn't produce anything.
(all) by myself
▪ Actually, I kind of wanted to be by myself tonight.
▪ I ate a whole gallon of ice cream by myself.
▪ All 41 tests were witnessed by myself or other members of the Requalification group and results compared against identified criteria.
▪ All the instructors are carefully selected by myself and they offer a very special service.
▪ And I have done it by myself.
▪ But I can't reach the window by myself.
▪ I go to the movies by myself one autumn evening.
▪ I was out driving around by myself.
▪ The next night, when I found it by myself, I bonded.
(all) by ourselves
▪ This year we wanted to take a vacation by ourselves.
▪ We built the wall all by ourselves.
▪ And when the blur does clear, we imagine that we have made it do so all by ourselves.
▪ Kip and I would have been helpless, by ourselves, in the situation, and Martinez probably intuited it.
▪ Our car was half full, and we were assigned to a row by ourselves.
▪ The walls of our imprisonment were there before we appeared on the scene, but they are ever rebuilt by ourselves.
▪ These services will be provided either directly by ourselves or by independently contracted suppliers.
▪ This information will be considered by ourselves at the key features review and due diligence stages.
▪ We believe we should resolve our issues by ourselves....
▪ We can manage very well by ourselves.
(all) by themselves
▪ I'm hoping these spots will go away by themselves.
▪ They are both old enough to go to the pool by themselves.
▪ But parents are... waiting for kids to be able to go to the movies and the mall by themselves.
▪ But reasons of identification and self-definition can not by themselves establish the legitimacy of an authority.
▪ He sounded matter-of-fact, as if nine-year-old kids commonly hung out by themselves in his lobby.
▪ If anything is worth while in life at all, some things must be good in and by themselves.
▪ It may not have occurred to them that they could do the same when viewing video by themselves.
▪ Two pairs of dates by themselves tell the story.
▪ Women can be happy by themselves.
▪ Women may not be free to walk by themselves along the streets.
(all) by yourself
(by) courtesy of sb
▪ But this was the end of extra leave by courtesy of Major Ansell.
▪ Even more tips are likely to come in courtesy of the tabloid media.
▪ Her hair is now streaked with expensive frosting courtesy of e Christofe, Beverly Hills stylist to the superstars.
▪ I also owed Maggie the courtesy of letting her know I didn't need her to do my legwork any longer.
▪ Reproduced courtesy of the Wykeham Galleries Procedure I stand at an easel to paint.
▪ The hon. Gentleman does not have to worry about the normal courtesy of staying to listen to the next speaker.
▪ We enclose a stamped, addressed envelope for the courtesy of your reply.
(by) courtesy of sth
▪ But this was the end of extra leave by courtesy of Major Ansell.
▪ Even more tips are likely to come in courtesy of the tabloid media.
▪ Her hair is now streaked with expensive frosting courtesy of e Christofe, Beverly Hills stylist to the superstars.
▪ I also owed Maggie the courtesy of letting her know I didn't need her to do my legwork any longer.
▪ Reproduced courtesy of the Wykeham Galleries Procedure I stand at an easel to paint.
▪ The hon. Gentleman does not have to worry about the normal courtesy of staying to listen to the next speaker.
▪ We enclose a stamped, addressed envelope for the courtesy of your reply.
baptism of/by fire
▪ An as-yet-unproven system called J-STARS, getting its baptism of fire in the Gulf, illustrates the point.
▪ Beige popsters take a vicarious pride in the slow baptism of fire that their chosen genre and its protagonists underwent.
▪ Diana admits that she wasn't easy to handle during that baptism of fire.
▪ It had been a baptism by fire, but she had come through.
▪ It is almost impossible to see where events will lead but you are going through a baptism of fire.
▪ My baptism of fire had been with Leon Brittan who was Chief Secretary until the 1983 general election.
▪ This was our baptism of fire and we learned many lessons.
be actuated by sth
▪ Gandhi was actuated by the belief that it was possible to achieve independence through nonviolence.
be at sb's side/stay by sb's side/not leave sb's side
be bitten by the showbiz/travel/flying etc bug
be bound (by sth)
▪ It has a tourist potential which is bound to revive as the election images of intimidation fade.
▪ The whole compound was bound together with honey and raisins.
▪ There was bound to be some tension when he teamed with Marlon Brando for Guys and Dolls in 1955.
▪ They were bound for the very place where Odysseus had landed.
▪ Two weeks later, he appeared in superior court for a preliminary hearing, and he was bound over for trial.
▪ We are bound by the Insurance Ombudsmans decision, but you are not.
▪ Work inhibition is so frustrating to parents and teachers that they are bound to feel like exploding.
be bound (together) by sth
▪ The two groups were bound together by their hatred of the factory in which they worked.
▪ Decisions and actions are bound by precedent. 3.
▪ Furthermore, the nature of political authority in representative democracies means that governments are bound by doctrines of accountability.
▪ He was bound by golden handcuffs to the Salomon Brothers mortgage trading depart-ment.
▪ If the parties do not wish to be bound by time limits there should be none in the lease.
▪ The Martins too are bound by the same federal law and could be prosecuted.
▪ The political order is bound by values.
▪ The Revenue will not subsequently be bound by any information or statements given, whether expressly or implicitly in relation to the claim.
▪ They were bound by it so long as it was not in conflict with their statutory duty.
be bounded by sth
▪ The U.S. is bounded in the north by Canada and in the south by Mexico.
▪ And at the same time their influence must be bounded by other, dominant ISAs.
▪ Like a family, we are bounded by history, duty, love and mandatory interaction.
▪ Our knowledge is bounded by our ideas, and extends only so far as they are ideas of real essences.
▪ The Apollonian Gasket, attributed to Apollonius of Perga, is bounded by three large circles tangent two by two.
▪ The courtyard was bounded by a range of cloisters two storeys high.
▪ When the young worker's social world was bounded by his village such considerations did not matter.
▪ Where I live at present is bounded by two rivers and is quite close to the sea.
▪ World history was bounded by these two events.
be burdened with/by sth
▪ Alas! the centuries are fraught with pain, and man is burdened by fear and woe.
▪ Apple is burdened with higher development costs than its competition; yet it has had to cut prices to compete.
▪ In the county gaols of Gloucester and Dorchester it was only debtors who were burdened with fees.
▪ James Madison, who was burdened with the War of 1812, was branded as both a warmonger and a coward.
▪ Malthus was burdened by a fatalism induced by fears of population growth and resource shortages.
▪ Poor Griet is burdened by more than having to scrub the Vermeer family smalls in this fictional biography of a painting.
▪ Surgeons should not be burdened with the responsibility of assessing their own degree of risk.
▪ The colliery is struggling to fulfil its contracts and is burdened by £1.7 million in debts.
be capped by sth
▪ And it fears spending could soon be capped by the Government.
▪ Saturday night was capped by a ranger program, goodies and campfire stories.
▪ The festivities were capped by an emotional presentation of a set of Bohemian cut glass from the staff to Bernard and Laura.
▪ The five-run flurry was capped by Steve Finley, who hit a three-run homer.
▪ The jute tips were capped by an ethereal green mist, through which a dozen or so fist-sized stars peeked.
▪ They were capped by flat discs and had a smooth surface without any semblance of an aero dynamic profile.
be carried along (by sth)
▪ Corpses were carried along, standing upright.
▪ He wasn't, so he didn't go right down, but was carried along under water.
▪ I let myself be carried along by the crowd.
▪ She was carried along the railway line to the station from where an ambulance took her to Colchester General Hospital.
be conspicuous by your/its absence
▪ If I have any qualification, it is that contemporary work is conspicuous by its absence.
be cursed with/by sth
▪ He is cursed with this evaluative frame of mind.
▪ He is cursed with this understanding.
▪ I learned he had the same goofy sense of humor I was cursed with.
▪ Instead, he might be cursed with one who would rob him blind and charge him three-times the wages for the privilege.
▪ Lydia Glasher writes that the wearer of these diamonds will be cursed by the wrong she did.
▪ She loses her wings and dies, leaving him to be cursed by Madge.
▪ These poor chaps were searching desperately for a project which would not be cursed with the ephemeral vulgarity of their usual tasks.
be devoured by sth
▪ Howard was devoured by hatred for his co-workers.
▪ Every Underground movement that goes overground is devoured by banality.
▪ The boats were lowered but the harpooner on the boat nearest him was devoured by the Great White Whale.
▪ This continent bore a very advanced civilization, but was devoured by the ocean in some unspecified catastrophe.
be eaten up with/by jealousy/anger/curiosity etc
be equalled (only) by sth
▪ Holding's 28 wickets were equalled by Andy Roberts.
▪ Indeed, in many respects, Ireland was equalled only by Byzantium.
▪ She seemed in no hurry to have them come, for her patience was equalled by her confidence.
▪ She was a woman without vision or curiosity; her distaste for books was equalled only by her dislike of people.
▪ The pleasures of driving our GTi are equalled only by the irritations.
▪ The savagery which he showed towards his opponents was equalled only by that of the discipline that he imposed upon his supporters.
▪ This amount is equalled by naturally forming sulphur that originates mainly from volcanoes and huge clusters of marine bacteria.
be fronted by/with sth
▪ How can a show that searches for talent be fronted by a bloke who hasn't got any?
▪ Like most Roman churches, the building is of brick and is fronted by a porch and open narthex.
▪ The façade is fronted by a narthex which is supported on Norman columns and capitals.
▪ The house was fronted by a flat Italianate lily pond.
be hoist with/by your own petard
be inundated (with/by sth)
▪ He said his organization is inundated with calls of sympathy.
▪ Most likely this person is inundated with reading material at work and at home.
▪ One-third of the world's human population lives on land that is liable to be inundated if the seas rise.
▪ She might have guessed that as soon as she tried for a little peace and quiet the whole place would be inundated with callers.
▪ She would be inundated with calls.
▪ The southwestern United States and California are inundated with illegals.
▪ We are inundated with relatives we encourage it and we make it a special time.
be nettled (by sth)
be overtaken by events
be riveted on/to/by sth
▪ All eyes were riveted on him, and anyone who had seating space sat down quietly.
▪ Armchair travellers will be riveted to their seats while the more adventurous will get itchy feet.
▪ Her eyes were riveted to the screen with the troubled innocence of a child.
▪ His eyes were riveted to the overhead screen while the heel of his right foot tapped nervously on the floor.
▪ His vision was riveted to one vanishing point on a particular horizon, and that was the story of avant-garde art.
▪ My eyes are riveted to that glorious old banner...
▪ Of course the country may be riveted by the latest video release or the latest Nintendo game.
be sanctioned by sth
▪ The social hierarchy was determined by birth and sanctioned by religion.
▪ The right of some one to exercise power is sanctioned by the organisation's rules.
be seized with/by terror/desire etc
be surrounded by sb/sth
▪ At work, I'm surrounded by people who don't know what they're doing.
▪ But the brain is surrounded by the skull, and all that escaped blood takes up space, squeezing the brain.
▪ For at school, the young man would be surrounded by men much like him-self.
▪ Groups of Federals are surrounded by ConfederatesConfederates surrounded by Federals.
▪ He is surrounded by an electronic keyboard, a rack of music equipment, a recording microphone and a personal computer.
▪ Le Sport is surrounded by tropical gardens on a secluded bay of golden sand.
▪ The burial place was surrounded by the crypt and above it, in the church, was the high altar.
▪ The Volvo, whose windows wind down to reveal plush red curtains, is surrounded by stepladders.
▪ They claimed that when they were surrounded by the gang they acted in self defence.
be taken aback (by sth)
▪ He was taken aback by the new demands of the job.
▪ I was taken aback, but deep down I wasn't totally surprised.
▪ Intel was taken aback by the intensity of public anger.
▪ Jonadab was taken aback, not being a man given to overt affection.
▪ She was taken aback to realise just how far her reservations about seeing him had disappeared.
▪ The authorities were taken aback, and took the unprecedented step of cordoning off the painting.
▪ The man spun round so swiftly that George was taken aback and tripped, falling on to the soft mud.
be taken with/by sth
▪ Even at the early hour I was taken with her freshness, her blond, tousled hair, her milk-warm voluptuous body.
▪ Great care was taken with his education, but teaching him what he did not wish to learn was a dangerous business.
▪ People in Bohemia had been so full of self-confidence that they were taken by surprise.
▪ Such action might be taken by all group members or by some members who formally or informally represent the entire group.
▪ The boy sustained a fractured left arm and was taken by ambulance to San Jose Medical Center.
▪ The initiative was taken by Bafuor Osei Akoto, a prosperous, go-ahead cocoa farmer of Kumasi.
▪ The pretty presenter was taken by ambulance to London's Charing Cross Hospital at 6 am with terrible stomach pains.
▪ This series of photographs was taken by a security camera at the Leeds Building Society.
be tied to/by sth
▪ A concrete thinker is tied to particular data; a formal thinker operates hypothetically.
▪ Derivatives are contracts whose values are tied to the price of some other asset such as a stock or a bond.
▪ I've far less trust than her so I'd not let myself be tied by or to anyone.
▪ She was tied to a sacrificial altar.
▪ Suddenly Donald was tied to his chair with the flex from the lamp, the plug still attached.
▪ The banks, in turn, claimed that their hands were tied by federal regulators who discouraged them from lending.
▪ This mammoth battle vividly demonstrated how inextricably railways are tied to politics.
▪ When he woke up again, he was tied to the bed in the hospital back in prison.
be too clever by half
▪ Phil's good at thinking up excuses for his behaviour - he's too clever by half.
be topped by sth
▪ His spare middle-aged frame is topped by a large head with sallow cheeks, thin lips, and receding chin.
▪ It is topped by a cone.
▪ It is topped by a wind-blown crust that almost holds our weight as we descend.
▪ The High Altar is topped by a copper St Nicholas surrounded by putti.
▪ The light purple flanks of the fish are topped by a golden streak dappled with red and purple.
▪ We were topped by ballerinas dressed as bumblebees.
be undisturbed by sth
▪ Looking down from the balcony on to the terrace, she observed that the cat was undisturbed by the gulls.
be/feel hard done by
▪ Having played in the previous winning Eisenhower Trophy team with distinction I think he can feel hard done by.
▪ The idea of a passenger going without pudding and then leaving the aircraft feeling hard done by troubles them.
▪ Thomas felt hard done by, contested the will and lost.
▪ To any readers who feel hard done by or annoyed please accept my sincere apologies.
▪ You've every right to feel hard done by, so don't start thinking that you're being selfish.
bit by bit
▪ Bit by bit, our apartment started to look like a home.
▪ But then, slowly, bit by bit, year by year, I began to change my mind.
▪ In therapy, we chip away at this, bit by bit.
▪ Make a small cut and then try to pull the gall to pieces bit by bit.
▪ So bit by bit you're being written into the programme and fed into the computer.
▪ The experiment faltered bit by bit.
▪ The information only came out bit by bit since she's still not easy in her mind about talking to us.
▪ Thus, bit by bit, the child learns to string together more complicated sequences.
▪ You can shop meal by meal, or bit by bit.
by George!
by God
▪ By God, that's good money!
by Jove!
by a factor of five/ten etc
▪ Other watches of the time sped up or slowed down by a factor of ten seconds for every one-degree change in temperature.
▪ So look at your friends, see what they are a little vain about and then multiply by a factor of ten.
by a long way
▪ And before they went there I thought they would, by a long way.
▪ He plays both but his preference, and by a long way, is for gaelic football.
▪ In the home market, it led the field by a long way, with 4,337,487 units sold.
▪ It is by a long way his preferred title when he refers to himself.
▪ It is, by a long way, the greatest test yet of whether he is up to the job.
▪ Moreover, the pretty paper kites in the clear blue skies still outnumber the documentary versions by a long way.
▪ The expense allowances they received often failed, sometimes by a long way, to cover the costs they had to meet.
by a mile
▪ And yet Simeon flunked virtually every exam, often by a mile.
▪ At the rate he was going we were going to miss it by a mile.
▪ But the service is not yet good enough by a mile.
▪ I hope you pay heed, you're still my favourite tome by miles ... for now.
▪ It's the best by miles.
▪ Some writers have suggested that this will replace browsing, but they miss the point by a mile.
▪ They're the favourites by a mile.
▪ Whoever planted that tree beat Mr Buddy by a mile.
by a neck
▪ Our horse won by a neck.
▪ Although tying up, she battled on well to hold off Flying Speed by a neck.
▪ But things have now improved and sales in comparable shops are currently ahead of last year, if only by a neck.
▪ The springing swan-bows, neck by neck, would slide homing into the sand-flats like silk.
by a nose
▪ There was more drama to follow in the actual race, where Shemaka held on by a nose from Baya.
by accident
▪ Fleming discovered penicillin almost by accident.
▪ He brought over some of my mail that was delivered to his house by accident.
▪ Lombardi heard about their plan quite by accident.
▪ The fire started by accident.
▪ The trigger of the gun is locked so that it cannot be fired by accident.
▪ We ended up by accident on the wrong train and had to ride all the way to Montreal.
by air
▪ It's actually less expensive to go by air to San Francisco.
by all means!
by and large
▪ Also, he worked, by and large, in second-rank bands.
▪ And by and large, they do a fine job.
▪ But as valuable as animals are, they have a serious drawback: by and large, they hate alcohol.
▪ But the truth was that, by and large, the research university focuses its collective intelligence on other matters.
▪ Hodgkin, by and large, just looks as if he's strayed in here and is making lots of noise.
▪ Society seems bitter turmoil, by and large.
▪ The reproducible arts of photography and printmaking still remain, by and large, categorised as lesser arts.
▪ You know, opposites of each other by and large.
by any chance
▪ Would you, by any chance, know where a pay phone is?
▪ Are they, as Private Eye might say, by any chance related?
▪ But before you call anyone, find out if by any chance he has a telephone number in Marshfield.
▪ Can anyone out there tell me what frequency Radio 5 broadcasts on ... by any chance on shortwave?
▪ Do you feel, by any chance, awful?
▪ Does my right hon. Friend by any chance recollect the average inflation rate under the last Labour Government?
▪ I wanted to ask her if she was, by any chance, called Veronica, but I didn't dare.
▪ Is Mr Sands awake by any chance?
▪ Is there a connection between Jack Benny and Charles Manson, by any chance?
by any stretch (of the imagination)
▪ Raising children isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination.
▪ All good things but not wildly expensive, not by any stretch of the imagination.
▪ I am very puzzled as to how either of these two items can be cash flows by any stretch of the imagination.
▪ It could not by any stretch of the imagination be anything else.
▪ Management is typically the reason people walk out, but it is not 100 percent by any stretch of the imagination.
▪ Not that Tiptoe could be called a child, by any stretch of the imagination.
▪ That is not ` good news' by any stretch of the imagination!
▪ The program isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
by appointment to the Queen
by choice
▪ She is childless by choice.
by default
▪ The dollar is benefiting by default from the weakness of the yen.
by definition
▪ Graffiti, no matter how well painted, is vandalism by definition.
by degrees
▪ By degrees, little children grow less dependent on their parents.
▪ Improvement will come by degrees.
▪ The storm intensified by degrees until the rain was pouring down.
▪ Consciousness could not have arisen by degrees.
▪ For since all natural change proceeds by degrees, something changes and something remains.
▪ Huy forced himself into a sitting position by degrees and brought the empty jar of fig liquor into vision.
▪ Let her learn about it by degrees.
▪ Not all at once, but by degrees, Dada made a conquest of this stallion of modern technology.
▪ The downpour did not intensify by degrees but simply gushed forth with biblical fury, vertical and windless.
▪ This is the model on which the National Curriculum is to be created and by degrees imposed on the primary schools.
by dint of (doing) sth
▪ A peculiar light seemed shed over everything, by dint of it being that house and no other!
▪ And though his grades each week never varied much from 9 and 10, it was only by dint of hard work.
by extension
▪ Women lawyers, and by extension all professional women, looked for ways to balance family and work.
by fair means or foul
by far/far and away
▪ Coolness is by far and away the most important feature of a car these days.
by gum!
by hand
▪ The letter had been delivered by hand, and was addressed to Mrs Zippie Isaacs.
▪ The rug was made by hand.
▪ They delivered their wedding invitations by hand.
by heart
by hook or by crook
▪ The police are going to get these guys, by hook or by crook.
▪ If she set her mind on something, then she had to acquire it, by hook or by crook.
by leaps and bounds/in leaps and bounds
by lot
by marriage
▪ John's my cousin by marriage.
by means of sth
▪ Critics were silenced by means of torture and unfair trials.
▪ Funds for economic development were provided by means of sterling bond issues in the London capital market.
▪ Initially this will be done by means of markers or cones and we will explain the new arrangements to the children.
▪ Let us briefly consider how you might analyze this claim by means of the scientific method.
▪ Maximilian was killed by means of a carbonic acid injection.
▪ Or gas before he backed himself into a corner and tried to escape by means of the faro table.
▪ Other ethnographic techniques Ethnographic research is not carried out only by means of participant observation and unstructured interviewing.
▪ Word of the Barrio barred owl spread among birders by means of an efficient and long established telephone grapevine.
by mistake
▪ Gary wandered into the wrong hotel room by mistake.
▪ I deleted a whole afternoon's work on the computer by mistake.
▪ I opened this by mistake, Paula, but I think it's for you - sorry.
▪ Jodie opened the letter by mistake
▪ Michelle must have picked up my keys by mistake.
by no means/not by any means
▪ It's difficult, but by no means impossible.
▪ It's not clear by any means where the money is going to come from to fund this project.
▪ It is by no means certain that you'll get your money back.
by numbers
▪ Certain things, such as electric charge, bank balances, or dates are quantified by numbers of this kind.
▪ Healthy living by numbers A low cholesterol level means reduced risk of heart disease, say doctors.
▪ It had happened before, she must just plot the next square like painting by numbers.
▪ The numerous shades were indicated by numbers.
▪ These consist of a capital letter followed by numbers.
▪ We were just cueing the sections by numbers, which is how they do it in New Orleans.
▪ Weeks later, she was still painting by numbers.
by proxy
by return (of post)
▪ Any sent will be copied and sent back by return of post.
▪ But Smith bailed them out by returning seven punts for a school-record 150 yards.
▪ Companies are classified by returns, and all companies with an equivalent return have the same business risk.
▪ Earlier this year, the Dole campaign alienated many Log Cabin members by returning a campaign contribution from the gay organization.
▪ He was given 25 years but tried to negotiate a cut in his sentence by returning half of the stolen gold.
▪ I end it by returning to those encounters.
▪ Please answer by return of mail.
▪ Professor Sano writes back by return mail.
by rights
▪ He's worked the land all his life, so by rights it's his.
▪ But, by rights, the smaller one shouldn't exist.
▪ He ought by rights to have died of shame at 30, or of drink at 50.
▪ He was a man whom, by rights, she ought not even to like.
▪ It was by rights his, he said.
▪ It winds down into winter, and yet by rights it should be barely midsummer.
▪ Of course by rights this should fall to Edward, but for reasons best known to himself it seems he's said nothing.
▪ So banks hang on to business that they should by rights lose, but find it hard to win new good-quality business.
by sb's own account
▪ But, by his own account, he agreed he would speak to the Shah if they too would do so.
▪ Do the math: Some 2, 250 shows by his own account.
▪ This was the type of man he was looking for and, by his own account, not infrequently found.
▪ When he was young and full of the new learning of Oxford and Cambridge he appears arrogant even by his own account.
by the book
▪ Rules are not to be broken - Barb does everything by the book.
▪ Hopefully when I get a new tank set up, I will have more success in numbers by going by the book.
▪ In the three years covered by the book he loses his virginity, his father and, briefly, his mind.
▪ Instead of managing by the book, this is strictly managing by the storybook.
▪ Mr and Mrs X and their children live in the house in the corner by the books.
▪ Nothing has gone by the book in this case.
▪ The decision to go ahead was made, by the book, Vaughan says.
▪ They play it by the book - their book not mine.
▪ Throughout Defense, people buy by the book.
by the hour/from hour to hour
by the minute
▪ Medical technology changes almost by the minute.
▪ By late Friday evening, the campsite was already half full with more campers arriving by the minute.
▪ Extra police had been brought in, but the Bridgeport mob grew by the minute.
▪ I became angrier by the minute, but I could not convey to them why I was so upset.
▪ I could feel my attitude souring by the minute.
▪ It was getting darker by the minute.
▪ Its innovation and principal selling point was that it bills by the second rather than by the minute.
▪ More were arriving by the minute, but were not coming up the track.
▪ Now it's getting more violent by the minute.
by the same token
▪ I want to win, but by the same token, I don't want to hurt Sam's confidence.
▪ And, by the same token, the world will come to be filled with the links in this causal chain.
▪ But by the same token it is most likely that in their own interests they would scrutinize the work of contemporary photographers.
▪ But by the same token, it can be understood more or less differently.
▪ Conversely, by the same token, no statement is immune to revision.
▪ It would forfeit, by the same token, any claim to be recognised as law.
▪ Space-time is therefore an extremely stiff medium, and by the same token small-amplitude waves carry large energies.
▪ The boat lunges forward and yet almost by the same token lunges back again.
▪ The inducement to give is greater, but by the same token there is a cost to the Exchequer in lost revenue.
by the score
▪ But he admitted that he himself granted them by the score.
▪ Labor and trade union officials were arrested by the score.
▪ Of course, Doyle's success brought imitators by the score, all writing then in the short story form.
▪ The barrage ignited waves of pandemonium, as parents by the scores rushed to the school, which has 700 pupils.
▪ Wally's friends would come in here by the scores, at any odd hour of the day or night.
by the scruff of the neck
▪ It just caught me by the scruff of the neck and practically hammered my guts out.
▪ One had hold of the other by the scruff of the neck and had fetched blood.
▪ Three were dragged back on to the train and taken by the scruff of the neck from station to police car.
▪ Your eyes narrow against the claws gripping you by the scruff of the neck until you let your hook of anger go.
by the skin of your teeth
▪ Jeff just got into college by the skin of his teeth.
▪ The business is surviving, but only by the skin of its teeth.
▪ The car broke down on the way to the airport and they just caught the plane by the skin of their teeth.
by the way
▪ Oh, by the way, Vicky called while you were out.
▪ And it's Jonathan, by the way.
▪ By the way, we are ruling out places like South Bend, Ind..
▪ Davis is a man, by the way, not a monster.
▪ Fast, by the way, is the operative word.
▪ His narrating hero and anchorman, Nicholas Jenkins, is constantly being mildly surprised by the way things and people turn out.
▪ Ni-cads, by the way, should not be left in a discharged state for very long periods.
▪ You can tell that by the way they muck schedules about.
by turns
▪ She had been by turns confused, angry, and finally jealous.
▪ And her listener feels both protective and irritated by turns.
▪ Bedford is by turns hilarious and ironic in the best sense: compassionate and yet clear-eyed.
▪ Beneath her external calm, she raged and felt frightened by turns.
▪ For the conductors, the process is by turns exciting and exhausting, agonizing and enlightening.
▪ I felt myself growing shy and scared by turns.
▪ She is both ingenuous and sophisticated by turns.
▪ The script is terrible, the acting by turns melodramatic and wooden, the direction confused.
▪ Yes, so catlike, owlish, aggressive and passive, hostile and amicable by turns.
by virtue of sth
▪ I am Claire's aunt by virtue of marriage.
▪ And never once did I find myself the center of collective stares, simply by virtue of being a gaijin.
▪ But is it true that we learn just by virtue of being busy and having lots of experiences?
▪ Catholicism, however gripped the masses by virtue of its incense, its ritual, all quite arbitrary, compulsion without purpose.
▪ Madeira was transformed into an offshore centre by virtue of legislation enacted in 1986.
▪ Prominent individuals were often prominent by virtue of the groups of which they were leaders.
by way of sth
▪ "She asked for it," Kyle said by way of explanation.
▪ Bacteria communicate with each other by way of chemical messages.
▪ We flew to Europe by way of Iceland.
▪ But much more is needed by way of investigation.
▪ He sows seeds of confusion by way of a million opinions on every subject within its covers.
▪ Myrtle, an aunt new to the Mundays by way of wedding Manny Munday on his deathbed.
▪ Patagonia does not offer a huge deal by way of urban amenities, and for many of us this is its beauty.
▪ The net result of war making by way of symbols is to widen the actual gap between luxury and poverty.
▪ The youth was later dealt with by way of a reprimand.
▪ Their appearance in the grand parade was only by way of an introduction.
▪ These contain suppressors by way of engram command, ally computations and painful emotion.
by/from all accounts
▪ By all accounts, Garcia was an excellent manager.
▪ Astor was a shy, austere and, by all accounts, unlovable man.
▪ But Alice was the only one of the Pritchetts who had, from all accounts, risen above her station in life.
▪ Caligula was degenerate but, by all accounts, did not deign to hide the fact.
▪ Elephants, by all accounts, were pretty strong too.
▪ Now there's Dan Crawley in hospital with the pneumonia, and poor Jenny is penniless by all accounts.
▪ Shaughnessy was a heroic figure-a brilliant writer and by all accounts a splendid teacher and leader.
▪ She was calculating and ambitious, and by all accounts at least a competent journalist.
▪ The original building was, by all accounts, demolished when St. John's railway station was constructed on its present site.
by/from the sound of it/things
▪ Ana was trapped here, though, by the sound of it.
▪ And all this provided by Summerchild, from the sound of it.
▪ But by the sound of it your brothers are a hale and hearty pair.
▪ But then Summerchild didn't know himself to start with, by the sound of it.
▪ He heard Lee shooting them down, then him whistling. From the sound of it he was still around.
▪ In the other boat, the priest had started gabbling in Latin - the Dies Irae, by the sound of it.
▪ Something hissed - steam escaping, from the sound of it.
▪ You've had a hard day, and by the sound of it not an easy life.
by/in leaps and bounds
▪ As the 1860s drew to a close, Kansas effectively put its violent heritage behind; change accelerated by leaps and bounds.
▪ Existing industries expanded in leaps and bounds.
▪ He has come on in leaps and bounds this season.
▪ In fact, vegetarianism is growing by leaps and bounds, particularly among the health-conscious.
▪ Meanwhile, California was now using up its entire entitlement and still growing by leaps and bounds.
▪ Meanwhile, Charles was recovering in leaps and bounds.
▪ Since Richard left for California last fall, my bank account has grown by leaps and bounds.
▪ The women's confidence increased by leaps and bounds.
by/since when
▪ Chances are you will find corn syrup listed as a sweetener. Since when do we put corn in strawberry jam?
▪ Each form finishes with a summary of the work to be undertaken, by whom and by when.
▪ However, the next owner dismantled the walls in 1685, since when it has remained in a state of decay.
▪ Many did not obey, but most were close by when the storm hit.
▪ Me: No kidding, since when?
▪ Not three weeks on the Island had gone by when Mami called.
▪ The winter of Keynesian discontent probably occurred in the early 1980s, since when there have been signs of a marked rally.
▪ What was the matter with her? Since when had fitzAlan needed encouragement to show anger?
by/through force of circumstance(s)
▪ Like all Trolls they will eat anything and through force of circumstance they tend to eat a lot of rocks.
▪ Some sectors, moreover, lagged behind completely, by force of circumstances or on account of reluctance to abandon traditional ways.
▪ Ware was a strict Palladian by upbringing but a stylistic schizoid by force of circumstances.
by/through the agency of sb
▪ Any extra equipment or special materials he required could be obtained through the agency of the headquarters' staff.
▪ Dubos started from the assumption that all organic matter added to the soil eventually undergoes decomposition through the agency of micro-organisms.
▪ Finally, an active regional policy was introduced through the agency of the Board of Trade.
▪ It is then enforced and upheld by the agencies of the state.
▪ It operates through the agencies of the different control systems such as the autonomic nervous system, hormonal system, immune system etc.
▪ Thrift has nearly killed her on several occasions, through the agency of old sausages, slow-punctured tyres, rusty blades.
by/through trial and error
▪ They learned to farm the land through trial and error.
▪ Each individual achieves his own style by trial and error.
▪ He learned everything just by trial and error.
▪ I did the tutorial that came with the package deal and learned a lot through trial and error.
▪ In any case, they were confident these minor bugs could be worked out through trial and error.
▪ It pointed out that: Everything seems to be done by trial and error.
▪ Science progresses by trial and error.
▪ Some had to learn by trial and error.
▪ These are things we learn by trial and error.
by/through/out of force of habit
catch sb by surprise, catch sb off guard, catch sb napping/unawares
▪ My pregnancy caught us by surprise, but we're happy about it.
▪ The public's reaction obviously caught the governor off guard.
cheek by jowl (with sb/sth)
▪ The farmers live cheek by jowl with the pits that are shutting down.
▪ The guests, packed cheek by jowl, parted as he entered, and suddenly she knew the reason for the party.
come by (sth)
come by sth
day by day
▪ Day by day Jeffrey began to feel better.
▪ But expectations seemed to diminish day by day over the last week.
▪ Candidates became steadily more visible day by day throughout the campaign, however.
▪ He can sense the options as they come and go, day by day.
▪ Marion and I are living day by day.
▪ She gets weaker day by day.
▪ That generates an attitude of formal control, instead of the day by day probing and checking that should be practised.
▪ This bid changes day by day.
▪ Y., the investigation is moving forward the same way: day by day.
death by misadventure
▪ A second inquest in February 1987, returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
▪ A verdict of death by misadventure was recorded.
▪ At the end of a four-hour hearing, the inquest jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.
▪ The coroner's jury brought in death by misadventure, on advice by the coroner.
▪ The coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
do sth by the seat of your pants
do well by sb
▪ He's left home, but he still does well by his kids.
▪ Economic constraints or limitations can be overcome given a sufficiently high motivation to do well by the individual entrepreneur.
do well by sb
▪ Economic constraints or limitations can be overcome given a sufficiently high motivation to do well by the individual entrepreneur.
don't judge a book by its cover
fall by the wayside
▪ A lot of marriages fall by the wayside because couples cannot talk to each other.
▪ Congress has let many important issues fall by the wayside this session.
▪ But better singers fell by the wayside.
▪ How many more fell by the wayside in the process?
▪ In any event, the idea that Lazarsfeld had discovered a ubiquitous method of social research has to fall by the wayside.
▪ Inevitably some fall by the wayside, but his success rate is surprisingly high considering the breadth of the repertoire he tackles.
▪ Many of her colleagues had fallen by the wayside.
▪ The gas tax rollback, initiated because gasoline prices spiked this spring, has since fallen by the wayside.
▪ They were told a lot of wounded men had fallen by the wayside.
fast by sth
▪ We stood on a rock, fast by the river.
fly by the seat of your pants
go by sth
go by sth
go by the board
▪ And because the domestic style was unsuited to amplified discourse, the domestic rules of politeness also went by the board.
▪ Health, education, transport and other welfare spending goes by the board.
▪ Meanwhile, there are other niceties that have simply gone by the board in certain aspects of management life.
▪ Moral standards go by the board in an atmosphere that seems generated purely for the above purposes.
▪ Scientific batsmanship goes by the board.
▪ Their principles have gone by the board.
▪ We had 100 people in the retail home delivery, but that was going by the boards by then.
▪ We used to play golf, but went by the board when he moved.
go by the rulebook
hang by a thread
▪ Ed was just hanging by a thread.
▪ His job is hanging by a thread, as it is.
▪ Hopes of a title hat-trick hang by a thread, but all is not quite lost.
▪ Liputin's teeth are by no means the only things that hang by a thread.
have/get sb by the short and curlies
in/by fits and starts
▪ Electoral reform is moving ahead in fits and starts.
▪ Although change often unfolds in fits and starts, organisations can learn to improve.
▪ But civilization was approaching in fits and starts.
▪ But his proposals for electoral reform, now moving ahead in fits and starts, contain no such provision.
▪ He spoke in fits and starts.
▪ It has continued in fits and starts ever since.
▪ The conversation is awkward, moving in fits and starts.
▪ This means the machine tends to go forward in fits and starts, sometimes quite quickly but at other times embarrassingly slowly.
inch by inch
▪ The old buses moved inch by inch toward the pyramids.
▪ But inch by inch they were being driven back.
▪ He was holding Maidstone's hat in both hands, turning it, feeding the brim inch by inch through his fingers.
▪ It crept towards her mouth, inch by inch.
▪ Lying on your tummy, raise your head and shoulders, curving the spine, inch by inch.
▪ She swallowed and closed her eyes, edging herself forward inch by inch.
▪ Then he climbed inch by inch up to Rainer.
▪ Today detectives undertook an inch by inch search of the area.
▪ Twenty times this monstrous frozen barrier slowly built up, inch by inch, and oozed south.
judging by/from sth
▪ I'd say she's pretty rich, judging from her clothes.
lead by example
▪ Harman leads by example, putting his time in on the production line.
▪ It is best to lead by example and with support.
▪ Longfellows captain Billy McKibben led by example as his team got home 7-2 against the Strikers.
▪ Skipper Alan Kernaghan led by example at the heart of defence and Andy Peake did an excellent job against his former team.
▪ That is surely leading by example!
▪ They are the people who lead by example.
▪ They never preached about it, but just led by example.
▪ Top management will be seen to lead by example.
lead sb by the nose
▪ He let her lead him by the nose.
like magic/as if by magic
little by little
▪ Little by little I became more fluent in German.
▪ Bingo broke me in and taught me the ropes, and little by little I became his boy.
▪ But little by little he would piece it all together.
▪ But time went on, and little by little I realized that this was not going to happen.
▪ I run my fingers over this invisible object, and little by little curiosity gets the better of me.
▪ Then little by little words are exchanged.
▪ Then, little by little, step by step, their dreams grow with the size of their business.
▪ These things, therefore, became little by little private property.
▪ This proved difficult and Josef Vissarionovich had to be blown up little by little over a period of two weeks.
live by your wits
▪ The city's homeless live completely by their wits.
▪ Days when there were no news sensations the newsboys lived by their wits.
▪ Freddie lived by his wits and he was involved with many shady characters.
month by month
▪ Unemployment figures are rising month by month.
▪ Because you produced it on loose pages I could exhibit it month by month as you organised it.
▪ Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month.
▪ The hon. Gentleman has no evidence for asserting that standards have dropped month by month.
▪ The market is changing not year by year, but month by month.
never let a day/week/year etc go by without doing sth
not by any manner of means
▪ You know, it isn't all sweetness and light here, not by any manner of means.
not do sth by halves
▪ I'm sure it will be a fantastic wedding. Eva never does anything by halves.
▪ He comes from a family that does not do things by halves.
on/by your lonesome
▪ Are you by your lonesome this weekend?
one by one
▪ One by one, worshipers walked to the front of the church.
▪ At once Lord Boddy did the same, and one by one, as they listened and nodded, everyone else followed suit.
▪ He examined them one by one.
▪ Little puffs of dust rose up as he opened them, one by one.
▪ Paul, Minnesota, and one by one three of the younger brothers who also became lawyers joined George there.
▪ She ticks them off, one by one, on her long slender fingers.
▪ The problems were then studied one by one in order of urgency.
▪ They were all taken away by the Red Guards, broken one by one in the street.
▪ We hold one another, then we return, one by one, each person saying a private good-bye.
pale in/by comparison
▪ But even these concerns pale by comparison with the fears that people have about traffic safety.
▪ But that pales in comparison to what he brings to this city.
▪ But the nine goals paled in comparison to the 16-plus average the stars have produced over the past seven games.
▪ Everything pales in comparison to a creation of this awesome magnitude.
▪ The number fired and to be fired at Burlington Northern pales in comparison with the number to be let go at AT&.
▪ The two disputes he mentioned pale in comparison with others looming on the horizon.
▪ They also prevail in an era where travel abuses pale in comparison to those of earlier years.
pass by (sb/sth)
▪ Also, the House rejected a measure, passed by the Senate Tuesday, to reopen closed government offices.
▪ But the positive interest of an agent is some guarantee that your work is not passing by unnoticed.
▪ I want to call out bravely, the way little children in the countryside used to exclaim when we passed by.
▪ It had clearly passed by the inhabitants of this quiet corner of Picardy.
▪ It isn't something you could pass by and not notice.
▪ Longest Night had passed by without incident, and Chater had not returned until mid-January.
▪ That day at the office seemed to pass by in an even more dreamlike fashion than usual.
▪ Three, in one form or another, are still in the budget bill passed by Congress and vetoed by President Clinton.
pass sb by
▪ He ended up a bitter old man who felt that life had somehow passed him by.
▪ Seize opportunities while you can -- don't let them pass you by.
▪ Sometimes I feel that all the best things in life are passing me by.
play sth by ear
▪ As he has no political party that can provide him with practical support, he is forced to play it by ear.
▪ At 2, he played the piano by ear.
▪ But the government is having to play it by ear.
▪ He heard jazz records at home when very young and played piano by ear.
▪ So each played it by ear, with resulting policy shifts that often appeared to be not only sudden but incomprehensible.
▪ Well, she would play it by ear.
play sth by ear
▪ As he has no political party that can provide him with practical support, he is forced to play it by ear.
▪ At 2, he played the piano by ear.
▪ But the government is having to play it by ear.
▪ He heard jazz records at home when very young and played piano by ear.
▪ So each played it by ear, with resulting policy shifts that often appeared to be not only sudden but incomprehensible.
▪ Well, she would play it by ear.
pull/haul yourself up by your bootstraps
run that by me again
set great/considerable etc store by sth
▪ Being thus disappointed, I now set great store by what the first night might bring.
▪ Bourbon producers set great store by the soft local water which passes through limestone on its way to the distilleries.
▪ Britain had previously set great store by the Lisbon economic summit two years ago, but progress has subsequently been slow.
▪ He had worked for the same engineering firm for thirty years and he had always set great store by the company pension.
▪ It apparently sets great store by creating business and completing assignments relatively quickly.
▪ Organizations which set great store by behavioural conformity often develop patterns of operation which can appear ridiculous in their manifestations.
▪ The ancient Israelites set great store by proper burial.
side by side
▪ Doctors and scientists are working side by side to find a cure for AIDS.
▪ In Egypt, fundamentalism and feminism have long existed side by side.
▪ It was a strange situation with Washington, Pretoria and Peking fighting side by side.
▪ Sabina and Mel sat side by side in the back seat.
▪ Soldiers worked side by side with civilians to rebuild the city.
▪ They lay side by side on the couch until Sonia fell asleep.
▪ We walked along slowly side by side.
▪ But teachers in the classroom argue that both methods have to be used side by side.
▪ Have each group take turns gluing their items side by side on the graph.
▪ Media mavens contend that the visual comparison of the two men side by side is half the battle.
▪ On entering the office I saw that Donald had placed two hard chairs side by side facing his desk.
▪ The two boys grew up side by side and became close friends.
▪ The two ideas of him, the low and the high, persisted side by side for a long time.
▪ They lay side by side, doing their relaxation exercises - deep breathing and total muscular relaxation from the feet up.
▪ They sat side by side in the double passenger seat, watching me as I approached.
smitten with/by sth
stand by sb
stand by sth
stand or fall by/on sth
▪ But the argument must stand or fall on its merits.
▪ For the government, acceptance of central planning did not stand or fall on the issue of nationalisation.
▪ It seems that this is a case that will stand or fall on its own particular facts.
▪ Mr Karimov knows that he will stand or fall on his ability to stave off economic collapse.
▪ The school has an outstanding and deserved reputation, which will stand or fall by the testimony of its pupils.
▪ The storyline was always going to stand or fall by the performance of Tim Guinee as Lazar.
▪ The success of the new News at Ten will stand or fall on his relationship with the seven million plus viewers.
▪ Their case would stand or fall on her reliability.
suicide by cop
swing by (sth)
take sb/sth by surprise
▪ But still Hsu Fu was not satisfied or took us by surprise.
▪ But the vehemence and anger of this response take her by surprise.
▪ He rolled towards Lily, taking her by surprise.
▪ His deep voice took Romanov by surprise.
▪ Inspector Montgomery's sudden termination of the interview had taken her by surprise initially, but now she understood his strategy.
▪ Midlife never took me by surprise.
▪ Such cheery jobless numbers have taken everybody by surprise.
▪ The thought that had been waiting to be revealed, waiting to take him by surprise.
take somewhere by storm
take the bull by the horns
▪ Helena decided to take the bull by the horns and organize the show herself.
▪ We decided to take the bull by the horns and go to court, instead of paying the fine.
take/catch sb by surprise
▪ He caught me by surprise and I sounded foolish.
▪ He rolled towards Lily, taking her by surprise.
▪ His deep voice took Romanov by surprise.
▪ In consequence, untold numbers of sailors died when their destinations suddenly loomed out of the sea and took them by surprise.
▪ Inspector Montgomery's sudden termination of the interview had taken her by surprise initially, but now she understood his strategy.
▪ The hug takes him by surprise.
▪ The thought that had been waiting to be revealed, waiting to take him by surprise.
▪ Welch and I had a rather heated exchange about the appropriateness of his editorial interference, which had caught me by surprise.
too clever/rich/good etc by half
▪ The arithmetic can not be faulted - and may well be judged too clever by half.
unaccompanied by sth
watch the world go by
▪ In this little village you can still sit in the town café and watch the world go by.
▪ Anonymous, watching the world go by for a moment.
▪ Did Victorine have a favorite cafe from which she watched the world go by?
▪ It's very pleasant to linger in a pavement cafe here and just watch the world go by.
▪ Or simply relax and watch the world go by.
▪ Plenty have terraces from which to watch the world go by accompanied by a hot waffle or a glass of beer.
▪ The George Street precinct is a great place to pause, enjoy the frequent street entertainment and watch the world go by.
▪ This is not a place to stand and stare, or to sit and watch the world go by.
▪ When we were lads Walton's doorway was where we always used to stand and watch the world go by.
win/lose by a whisker
▪ Davidson won the election by a whisker.
▪ He finished second in the 1988 Superstars, losing by a whisker in the final event.
▪ In a race that was ultimately won by a whisker, the Powell effect may even have made the difference for Bush.
without so much as a by your leave
year by year
▪ Year by year, things are getting worse.
▪ Because so much has been put into making such fine volumes, they have tended to increase in value year by year.
▪ But though I refused to age, the students and the other teachers grew younger year by year.
▪ Instead of claiming it year by year, you just fill in a form when you apply for your mortgage.
▪ The car-less core has been expanded year by year, as more neighborhoods have wanted it.
▪ The issues involved in a healthy environment grow year by year.
▪ The pay-back is more evident year by year, as increasingly the focus is on speciality films.
▪ Their living conditions are getting worse year by year, politicians are corrupt, often are not held accountable.
▪ Yet year by year, the day of reckoning grows closer, and nothing is being done.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ "Hamlet" was written by Shakespeare.
▪ By 9.00, most of the guests had arrived.
▪ By God, we actually did it!
▪ By law, cars cannot pass a school bus while it is stopped.
▪ Ann has two children by her ex-husband.
▪ Colette is French by birth.
▪ Doris came in by the back door.
▪ Everyone is worried by the rise in violent crime.
▪ He walked by me without saying hello.
▪ I'll be home by 6.30, I promise.
▪ I'll be home by 9:30.
▪ I go by John's place on my way to work; I can pick him up.
▪ I picked the pot up by the handle.
▪ I saw him standing by the window.
▪ I was overcharged by $3.
▪ It's fine by me if you want to go.
▪ Jim was bitten by a dog.
▪ Most restaurant workers are paid by the hour.
▪ Please try to have this done by Friday.
▪ Profits were $6 million, but by their standards this is low.
II. adverb
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ I lay on the grass and watched the clouds floating by.
▪ One or two cars went by, but nobody stopped.
▪ One woman reported seeing a man go by on a motorcycle.
▪ Three hours went by before we heard any news.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A high school couple walked by, talking ofJesus.
▪ As Ahab and the crew pass it by from day to day they ponder its meaning.
▪ As we talk, Dolph Lundgren waddles by.
▪ The weedy water slid by between him and the shoals and ledges.
▪ There are lots of spots close together around the city centre, then many more close by in a car.

by

I. by¹ S1 W1 /baɪ/ preposition
[Language : Old English; Origin : be, bi]
1. WHO/WHAT DOES SOMETHING used especially with a passive verb to say who or what does something or makes something happen:
　 ▪ I was attacked by a dog.
　 ▪ a church designed by the famous architect, Sir Christopher Wren
　 ▪ We are all alarmed by the rise in violent crime.
　 ▪ interference by the state in the affairs of the Church
　 ▪ his appointment by the BBC as a producer

2. MEANS/METHOD used to say what means or method someone uses to do something:
　 ▪ You can reserve the tickets by phone.
　 ▪ Send it by airmail.
　 ▪ Some customers prefer to pay by cheque.
by car/train/bus/taxi etc
　 ▪ They travelled to Chicago by train.
by air/sea/land/road/rail etc
　 ▪ All supplies are transported by air.
by doing something
　 ▪ She earns her living by selling insurance.
　 ▪ He was taken from his home by force.

3. ROAD/DOOR used to say which road, entrance, door etc someone uses to get to a place:
　 ▪ They came in by the back door.
　 ▪ It’s quicker to go by the country route.

4. TAKING HOLD used to say which part of an object or of a person’s body someone takes hold of:
　 ▪ He took Elaine by the arm and led her across the road.
　 ▪ She grabbed the hammer by the handle.

5. WRITER/COMPOSER ETC used to give the name of someone who wrote a book, produced a film, wrote a piece of music etc:
　 ▪ the ‘New World Symphony’ by Dvorak
　 ▪ a short story by Charles Dickens
　 ▪ Who’s it by?

6. BESIDE beside or near something:
　 ▪ She stood by the window.
　 ▪ Jane went and sat by Patrick.

7. PAST past someone or something without stopping:
　 ▪ He walked right by me without even saying hello.
　 ▪ I pass by the farm every day on my way to work.

8. BEFORE before or not later than a particular time:
　 ▪ The documents need to be ready by next Friday.
　 ▪ I reckon the film should be over by 9.30.
　 ▪ By the end of the day we had sold over 2,000 tickets.
　 ▪ By the time we got home we were tired and hungry.

9. ACCORDING TO according to a particular rule, method, or way of doing things:
　 ▪ You’ve got to play by the rules.
　 ▪ Profits were £6 million, but by our standards this is low.

10. CHANGE/DIFFERENCE used to say how great a change or difference is:
　 ▪ The price of oil fell by a further $2 a barrel.
　 ▪ I was overcharged by £3.
　 ▪ Godard’s first film was better by far (=by a large amount or degree).

11. MEASUREMENTS used to give the measurements of a room, container etc:
　 ▪ a room 15 metres by 23 metres

12. QUANTITY used to show what unit of measurement or quantity is involved in selling, paying for, producing etc something:
　 ▪ Eggs are sold by the dozen.
　 ▪ We’re paid by the hour.
　 ▪ She wanted to tear his hair out by the handful.

13. GRADUAL CHANGE used to say that something happens gradually:
　 ▪ Day by day, he grew weaker.
　 ▪ Little by little, I was beginning to discover the truth about Garfield.
　 ▪ One by one, the men stepped forward.

14. QUICK CHANGE used to say that something or someone is quickly becoming worse, better etc:
　 ▪ The financial crisis was growing more serious by the hour.

15. LIGHT used to say that something happens in a particular kind of light:
　 ▪ We walked through the palace gardens by moonlight.

16. by day/night
during the day or the night:
　 ▪ a tour of Paris by night

17. JOB/NATURE ETC used when you are giving information about someone’s character, job, origin etc:
　 ▪ George I and George II were Germans by birth.
　 ▪ Cautious by nature, Simpkin was reluctant to interfere.
　 ▪ Robert Key was a teacher by profession.

18. VISITING in order to visit a person or place for a short time:
　 ▪ On the way, I stopped by the post office.

19. (all) by yourself

a) completely alone:
　 ▪ Dave spent Christmas all by himself.
b) without help from anyone:
　 ▪ You can’t move the furniture all by yourself.

20. MULTIPLYING/DIVIDING used between two numbers when talking about multiplying or dividing:
　 ▪ What’s 48 divided by 4?

21. EMPHASIS used when expressing strong feelings or making serious promises:
　 ▪ By God, I’ll kill that boy when I see him!

22. FATHER if a woman has children by a particular man, that man is the children’s father:
　 ▪ She’s got two children by her previous husband.

23. by the by
spoken used when mentioning something that may be interesting but is not particularly important:
　 ▪ By the by, Ian said he might call round tonight. ⇨ by the way at way
• • •
GRAMMAR
by, with
By is used, especially after passive verbs, to say who or what does something:
　 ▪ The article was written by a university professor.
　 ▪ She was hit by a truck.
With is used after verbs that describe a state rather than an action:
　 ▪ The books were covered with dust (NOT by dust).
　 ▪ Her house is always filled with music.
By is used to say what means or method someone uses to do something:
　 ▪ He replied by email.
With is used to say what tool is used to do something:
　 ▪ Clean the surface thoroughly with a wire brush (NOT by a wire brush).

II. by² S1 W1 adverb
1. past someone or something:
　 ▪ As I was standing on the platform, the Liverpool train went whizzing by.
　 ▪ James walked by without even looking in my direction.

2. used to say that time passes:
　 ▪ As the summer days slipped by, it was easy to forget about the war.
　 ▪ Ten years had gone by since I had last seen Marilyn.

3. beside or near someone or something:
　 ▪ A crowd of people were standing by, waiting for an announcement.

4. in order to visit a person or place for a short time:
　 ▪ Why don’t you stop by for a drink after work?

5. by and large
used when making a general statement:
　 ▪ By and large, the new arrangements have worked well.

6. by and by
old use soon:
　 ▪ She will be better by and by.

• Từ đồng nghĩa / Synonyms:
  aside, away, past