by-product

[bahy-prod-uhkt]

noun

1. a secondary or incidental product, as in a process of manufacture.

2. the result of another action, often unforeseen or unintended.

by-product

noun

1. a secondary or incidental product of a manufacturing process

2. a side effect

by-product

1. Something produced in the process of making something else. When plants produce carbohydrates by photosynthesis, oxygen is released as a by-product. Asphalt and paraffin are by-products of the process of refining crude oil into gasoline.

Word History and Origins

Origin of by-product¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

In such an environment, a 3% inflation rate is less a policy failure than an adaptation—the by-product of an economy adjusting to a chronic government deficit and the political impossibility of fiscal consolidation.

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“Belief in a novel is, for me, a by-product of a certain kind of sentence,” Smith observes.

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The company said the on-year rise in profitability was due to higher zinc in concentrate sales volumes, a rise in base-metal prices, and by-product revenues combined with significantly lower copper smelter processing charges.

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The protein trend has been especially driven by the expanded availability of protein from whey, typically a by-product of cheese production.

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It adds that interference occurs primarily near conflict zones as a by-product of military activity, rather than necessarily being a deliberate act.

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Related Words

• outgrowth