by-election

or bye-e·lec·tion

[bahy-i-lek-shuh n]

noun

a special election, not held at the time of a general election, to fill a vacancy in Parliament.

Origin of by-election

First recorded in 1875–80; by- + election

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for by-election

Contemporary Examples of by-election

Suu Kyi herself fought a by-election last April; she and dozens of her party colleagues were elected in remarkably fair elections.
Burma’s Spring Turns Deadly as Riots Shake the Town of Meiktila
Peter Popham
March 24, 2013
The UK Conservatives finished a humiliating third in a by-election yesterday.
A Bad Night for British Conservatives
David Frum
March 1, 2013
George Galloway has returned to Parliament, winning a by-election in Bradford, Yorkshire.
Galloway and Bradford Deserve Each Other
David Frum
March 30, 2012

Historical Examples of by-election

The Labour man has got in at the by-election for Barnside, my dear.
The Silver Box (First Series Plays)
John Galsworthy
It would mean a by-election in Bethnal Green, where he comes from.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, February 11, 1914
Various
By-election after by-election had gone against Mr. Gladstones Government.
Lord Randolph Churchill
Winston Spencer Churchill
I only got rid of my By-election Blighters half an hour ago.
A Case in Camera
Oliver Onions
This was in a by-election held at Cockermouth in August, 1906.
My Own Story
Emmeline Pankhurst

British Dictionary definitions for by-election

by-election

bye-election

noun

(in the United Kingdom and other countries of the Commonwealth) an election held during the life of a parliament to fill a vacant seat in the lower chamber

(in the US) a special election to fill a vacant elective position with an unexpired term

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