BY-AND-BY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does by-and-by mean? 

• BY-AND-BY (noun)
  The noun BY-AND-BY has 1 sense:

1. an indefinite time in the future

  Familiarity information: BY-AND-BY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BY-AND-BY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An indefinite time in the future

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Context example:

he'll get around to it in the sweet by-and-by

Hypernyms ("by-and-by" is a kind of...):

future; futurity; hereafter; time to come (the time yet to come)

 Context examples 

By-and-by Jo roamed away upstairs, for it was rainy, and she could not walk.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Well, by-and-by we shall have a few friends, and that will amuse her a little.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

By-and-by we find all the things which Jonathan have note in that wonderful diary of him.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

So they both came out, and by-and-by the lamb and dove came nearer, and were not afraid of him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I pronounced his name, offering him at the same time my hand: he took it, smiling and saying, "We shall do very well by-and-by."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was a good deal to show, and by-and-by she saw, and was grateful for it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

By-and-by he stopped and said, turning from one to another of us:—Quincey's head is level.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"I can't say 'yes' truly, so I won't say it at all. You'll see that I'm right, by-and-by, and thank me for it..." she began solemnly.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

By-and-by, however, as I was curious to know how time was passing, I struck a match, and by its flame looked at my watch; it was within a few minutes of midnight.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"Yes, she owned she had a trouble, and promised to tell me by-and-by. I said no more, for I think I know it," and Jo told her little story.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)