Word.ws English Dictionary

upon the by

upon the by prepositional phrase: by the by; incidentally.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (obsolete) by the by; incidentally
    • In this instance, there is, upon the by, to be noted, the percolation or suing of the verjuice through the wood; for verjuice of itself would never have passed through the wood: so as, it seemeth, it must be first in a kind of vapour, before it pass.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...

Questions about upon the by

What does upon the by mean?
Upon the by means by the by; incidentally.
What part of speech is upon the by?
Upon the by is a prepositional phrase.

Words near upon the by in the dictionary

  1. upon one's speed
  2. upon pain of
  3. upon reflection
  4. upon the back of
  5. upon the books
  6. upon the by
  7. upon the carpet
  8. upon the heels of
  9. upon the instant
  10. upon the matter
  11. upon the pad

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: upon the by (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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