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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

By and by, his mother, father and aunt arrive to begin the Saturday evening prayer service.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2020

By and by, he noticed the familiar look of a sketcher, and he began to sketch me sketching him sketching.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2019

By and by, she spoke of Gail in the same way: the essential nature of Gail’s personality, the quality of Gail’s artistic talents, the high idealism of Gail’s plans for the future.

From The New Yorker • May 23, 2016

By and by, the multiplicity produced dialogue you wouldn't find anywhere else, like the time when Noble's Walter Bishop says to Jasika Nicole's Agent Astrid Farnsworth: "You're not you, are you?"

From Seattle Times • Jan. 17, 2013

By and by, I recognized the Sherpa as Fischer’s flamboyant sirdar, Lopsang Jangbu, and the climber in yellow as Sandy Pittman.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer