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• by-and-by
  by-and-by

  noun

  the future.
• by and by
  by and by

  adverb

  presently or eventually

by-and-by

American  

[bahy-uhn-bahy] / ˌbaɪ ənˈbaɪ /

noun

1. the future.

   to meet in the sweet by-and-by.

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by and by British  

adverb

1. presently or eventually

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noun

1. a future time or occasion

by and by Idioms  

1. After a while, soon, as in She'll be along by and by. The expression probably relies on the meaning of by as a succession of quantities (as in “two by two”). This adverbial phrase came to be used as a noun, denoting either procrastination or the future. William Camden so used it for the former (Remains, 1605): “Two anons and a by and by is an hour and a half.” And W.S. Gilbert used it in the latter sense when Lady Jane sings plaintively that little will be left of her “in the coming by and by,” that is, as she grows old (Patience, 1881). [Early 1500s]

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Etymology

Origin of by-and-by

1300–50; Middle English bi and bi one by one, at once. See by

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

by-and-by by and by

Teen magazines thus urge their advertisers to pursue the consumer "not in the sweet by-and-by, but in the much sweeter now-and-now."

From Time Magazine Archive

Leon allows only a misty glimpse of the sweet by-and-by.

From Time Magazine Archive

"I plan to attempt it again by-and-by," he told reporters.

From Time Magazine Archive

That rosy cheeks don’t last forever, that silver threads will come in the bonnie brown hair, and that, by-and-by, kindness and respect will be as sweet as love and admiration now.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

“Mayn’t I hope you’ll change your mind by-and-by? I’ll wait and say nothing till you have had more time. Don’t play with me, Meg. I didn’t think that of you.”

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

“All I know is you need someone, in the by and by, you need someone who’s gonna cry for you,” Bird crooned, eyes closed, voice nearly breaking with emphasis on the aptly titled “Need Someone.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

If more people take initiative like this, it might happen, by and by.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 20, 2022

She said she found herself “hoping to hear, just once more, another story that would, by and by, perhaps change the way I see the world.”

From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2022

In a volume of autobiography, he recalled: ‘In the early days I liked Bret Harte . . . but by and by I got over it.’

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2019

But by and by she had to open her mouth to breathe.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck