by-product

American  

[bahy-prod-uhkt] / ˈbaɪˌprɒd əkt /

noun

• by-products
  plural

1. a secondary or incidental product, as in a process of manufacture.

2. the result of another action, often unforeseen or unintended.

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by-product British  

noun

1. a secondary or incidental product of a manufacturing process

2. a side effect

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by-product Scientific  

/ bī′prŏd′əkt /

1. Something produced in the process of making something else. When plants produce carbohydrates by photosynthesis, oxygen is released as a by-product. Asphalt and paraffin are by-products of the process of refining crude oil into gasoline.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• by-products
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of by-product

First recorded in 1900–05

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

by-product by-products

At the $25 million transaction price in Capstone shares, Hutchison calculates that Capstone paid less than a cent per pound for the copper resources alone, excluding by-product credits.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

What may look like a fossil human tooth-picking groove could just as easily be the by-product of everyday chewing.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026

The government has provided funding to reactivate the Ensus bioethanol plant, which makes CO2 as a by-product, in order to shore up supplies of the gas.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026

Existing by-product is already stored in a permanent disposal facility "constructed and managed to ensure the material does not impact on the surrounding environment," the company said.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

Unconscious goblin guards covered the room’s floor in heaps, a by-product of the wolf’s entrance, most likely.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

The licence was issued as environmental watchdogs such as Greenpeace raised concerns over the management of radioactive by-products.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

The company’s strong performance in by-products such as lead and zinc was driven by strong grades at its Fresnillo mine in Mexico, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

This metabolism creates toxic by-products called formaldehyde, formate and formic acid.

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024

Fear and suspicion are, of course, common by-products of war.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2024

If this is all that atoms have, then the qualities that we perceive in the world—colour, taste, smell, sound, texture, temperature—must be by-products of size, shape and movement.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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