by-and-by

[ bahy-uhn-bahy ]

/ ˌbaɪ ənˈbaɪ /

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

noun

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

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Origin of by-and-by

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

Words nearby by-and-by

by all means, by all odds, by a long shot, by a mile, Byam Shaw, by-and-by, by and large, by any means, by any stretch, by a thread, Byatt

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

How to use by-and-by in a sentence

As an example of good science-and-society policymaking, the history of fluoride may be more of a cautionary tale.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Yes, Byrd—dead four-and-a-half years now—was a Kleagle in the Ku Klux Klan.
Steve Scalise and the Right’s Ridiculous Racial Blame Game|Michael Tomasky|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A step-by-step plan to break from your various technology addictions.
Can Self-Help Books Really Make a New You?|Lizzie Crocker|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Those snakes attacked unwitting passers-by, or invaded homes and hotels.
The Buddhist Business of Poaching Animals for Good Karma|Brendon Hong|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All along the highways and by-paths of our literature we encounter much that pertains to this "queen of plants."
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
She also practises etching, pen-and-ink drawing, as well as crayon and water-color sketching.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
John was baptizing at a large pool called Ænon-by-Saleim,—probably allegorical, meaning “Fountain of Repose.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
The sewing-machine made a resounding clatter in the room; it was of a ponderous, by-gone make.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
No law of that country must exceed in words the number of letters in their alphabet, which consists only in two-and-twenty.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for by-and-by

by and by

adverb

presently or eventually

noun by-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]

by-and-by

Origin of by-and-by

Words nearby by-and-by

Words related to by-and-by

How to use by-and-by in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for by-and-by

Other Idioms and Phrases with by-and-by