by-and-by

[ bahy-uhn-bahy ]

See synonyms for by-and-by on Thesaurus.com

noun

the future: to meet in the sweet by-and-by.

Origin of by-and-by

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use by-and-by in a sentence

Mr. Spurrell came down to see a horse, and we shall be very glad to have the benefit of his opinion by-and-by.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, November 3, 1894 | Various
by-and-by all pretence of formality and order is put aside and the battle really begins.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, April 28, 1920 | Various
by-and-by, as his old friends rallied round him, he spun many a yarn about Rio.
Skipper Worse | Alexander Lange Kielland
In fact it went on looking better and better, straight along—until by-and-by it grew into positive proof.
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg | Mark Twain
We sent for a doctor and chyrurgeon, but none to be found, till by-and-by by chance comes in Dr. Clerke, who is afeard of him.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel Pepys

British Dictionary definitions for by and by

by and by

adverb

presently or eventually

nounby-and-by

US and Canadian a future time or occasion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with by-and-by

by-and-by

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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