noun
- A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.
Synonyms: king of insects
noun
- A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
- A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
noun
- A ring or torque; a bracelet.
noun
- The name of the Latin-script letter B.
noun
- (usually in the plural) Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.
Synonyms: bee block
adjective
- Out of the way, subsidiary.
adverb
- Along a path which runs past the speaker.
- In the vicinity, near.
- To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.
- Aside, away.
preposition
- Near or next to.
- From one side of something to the other, passing close by; past.
- Not later than (the given time); not later than the end of (the given time interval).
- Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
- Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.
- Indicates a means of achieving something: Involving/using the means of.
- Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
- Indicates a means of classification or organisation.
- Indicates the amount of change, difference or discrepancy
- In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
- Indicates a referenced source: According to.
- Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
- (horse breeding) Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of.
noun
- The position of a person or team in a tournament or competition who draws no opponent in a particular round so advances to the next round unopposed, or is awarded points for a win in a league table; also the phantom opponent of such a person or team.
- An extra scored when the batsmen take runs after the ball has passed the striker without hitting either the bat or the batsman.
- A dwelling.
- A thing not directly aimed at; something which is a secondary object of regard; an object by the way, etc.
- A pass.
interjection
- Goodbye.
Pronunciation
About this word
By is a 10-meaning word in English. Two-letter words rarely have anagrams.
This page shows the definition of by along with every other word you can make from its letters. Click the link above to see all anagrams and shorter words formed from the same set of letters.
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Words in word games
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Scrabble
In Scrabble, the valid word lists are the Official Tournament and Club Word List (OTCWL/NWL) for North America and the Collins Scrabble Words (CSW) for international play. Our dictionary covers most words in both lists, but some proper nouns, abbreviations, and offensive terms may differ.
Wordle
Wordle uses its own curated word list that is smaller than the full Scrabble dictionary. If By appears here, it may or may not be a valid Wordle answer — but it is a real English word regardless.
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