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[by oneself]{adv. phr.} 1. Without any others around; separate from others; alone. •/The house stood by itself on a hill./ •/Tom liked to go walking by himself./ •/Betty felt very sad and lonely by herself./ 2. Without the help of anyone else; by your own work only. •/John built a flying model airplane by himself./ •/Lois cleaned the house all by herself./

[by one’s own bootstraps] See: PULL ONE SELF UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS.

[by storm] See: TAKE BY STORM.

[by surprise] See: TAKE BY SURPRISE.

[by the board] See: GO BY THE BOARD also PASS BY THE BOARD.

[by the bootstraps] See: PULL ONESELF UP BY THE BOOTSTRAPS.

[by the bye] See: BY THE WAY.

[by the dozen] or [by the hundred] or [by the thousand] {adv. phr.} Very many at one time; in great numbers. •/Tommy ate cookies by the down./ Often used in the plural, meaning even larger numbers. •/The ants arrived at the picnic by the hundreds./ •/The enemy attacked the fort by the thousands./

[by the horns] See: TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORNS.

[by the hundred] See: BY THE DOZEN.

[by the nose] See: LEAD BY THE NOSE.

[by the piece]{adv. phr.} Counted one piece at a time, separately for each single piece. •/John bought boxes full of bags of potato chips and sold them by the piece./ •/Mary made potholders and got paid by the piece./

[by the seat of one’s pants] See: FLY BY THE SEAT OF ONE’S PANTS.

[by the skin of one’s teeth]{adv. phr.} By a narrow margin; with no room to spare; barely. •/The drowning man struggled, and I got him to land by the skin of my teeth./ •/She passed English by the skin of her teeth./ Compare: SQUEAK THROUGH, WITHIN AN ACE OF or WITHIN AN INCH OF.

[by the sweat of one’s brow]{adv. phr.} By hard work; by tiring effort; laboriously. •/Even with modern labor-saving machinery, the farmer makes his living by the sweat of his brow./

[by the thousand] See: BY THE DOZEN.

[by the way] also [by the bye] {adv. phr.} Just as some added fact or news; as something else that I think of. — Used to introduce something related to the general subject, or brought to mind by it. •/We shall expect you; by the way, dinner will be at eight./ •/I was reading when the earthquake occurred, and, by the way, it was The Last Days of Pompeii that I was reading./

[by the wayside] See: FALL BY THE WAYSIDE.

[by turns]{adv. phr.} First one and then another in a regular way; one substituting for or following another according to a repeated plan. •/On the drive to Chicago, the three men took the wheel by turns./ •/The teachers were on duty by turns./ •/When John had a fever, he felt cold and hot by turns./ Syn.: IN TURN. Compare: TAKE TURNS.

[by virtue of] also [in virtue of] {prep.} On the strength of; because of; by reason of. •/By virtue of his high rank and position, the President takes social leadership over almost everyone else./ •/Plastic bags are useful for holding many kinds of food, by virtue of their clearness, toughness, and low cost./ Compare: BY DINT OF.

[by way of]{prep.} 1. For the sake or purpose of; as. •/By way of example, he described his own experience./ 2. Through; by a route including; via. •/He went from New York to San Francisco by way of Chicago./