by-product
Americannoun
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by-products
plural
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a secondary or incidental product, as in a process of manufacture.
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the result of another action, often unforeseen or unintended.
noun
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a secondary or incidental product of a manufacturing process
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a side effect
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of by-product
First recorded in 1900–05
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At the $25 million transaction price in Capstone shares, Hutchison calculates that Capstone paid less than a cent per pound for the copper resources alone, excluding by-product credits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Instead, they are a by-product of the ear's physiological sound amplification process.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
The Fed was moving to counter that slowdown, with any lift to stocks a by-product.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Lynas however, says its by-product from rare earth refining produces a non-toxic, non-radioactive magnesium-rich gypsum and an iron phosphate with a very low level of naturally occurring radioactive material.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
There were those who said that it was just a horrible accident, an inevitable by-product of the fact that police officers sometimes have to make life-or-death decisions in conditions of uncertainty.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
With the latest biotech tools, companies are taking by-products of the food industry, that are currently discarded or have little value, and using fermentation to turn them into something useful.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Countries have been wrestling with what to do with dangerous nuclear by-products since the first plants were built in the 1950s.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
The company’s strong performance in by-products such as lead and zinc was driven by strong grades at its Fresnillo mine in Mexico, they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
Fear and suspicion are, of course, common by-products of war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2024
The facts cited above are by-products of research in cell physiology or genetics.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
