English Explanatory Dictionary

by and by

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv
  1. After a short time.
  2. After an indefinite period.
  3. Immediately; at once.
noun
  1. Heaven; the hereafter. Usually preceded with "the sweet."

Word forms

by and by by-and-by by and bye byemby byembye

Etymology

From Middle English by and by (“side by side, close together, alongside, on and on, continually, again and again, repeatedly”), equivalent to by + and + by.

Synonyms

soon sooner or later stat shortly in due course now other side spirit world sweet hereafter: see also Thesaurus:afterlife
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