GO BY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does go by mean? 

• GO BY (verb)
  The verb GO BY has 4 senses:

1. pass by

2. move past

3. be called; go by a certain name

4. be or act in accordance with

  Familiarity information: GO BY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GO BY (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pass by

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

elapse; glide by; go along; go by; lapse; pass; slide by; slip away; slip by

Context example:

three years elapsed

Hypernyms (to "go by" is one way to...):

advance; go on; march on; move on; pass on; progress (move forward, also in the metaphorical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "go by"):

fell; fly; vanish (pass away rapidly)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move past

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

go by; go past; pass; pass by; surpass; travel by

Context example:

One line of soldiers surpassed the other

Hypernyms (to "go by" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "go by"):

skirt (pass around or about; move along the border)

run by (pass by while running)

fly by (pass by while flying)

fly by; whisk by; zip by (move by very quickly)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be called; go by a certain name

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

go by; go under

Context example:

She goes by her maiden name again

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Be or act in accordance with

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Go by this rule and you'll be safe

Hypernyms (to "go by" is one way to...):

conform to; follow (behave in accordance or in agreement with)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

I have stood aside to see the phantoms of those days go by me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I kill it with the axe as I go by, as I kill one of my dogs which loses its legs and can travel no more.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Did you go by the village of Kympton?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

At such times you go by my volition and not by his; and this power to good of you and others, as you have won from your suffering at his hands.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

To continue our reasoning: if these people did not go by the road, they must have traversed the country to the north of the house or to the south of the house.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He did not leave the stile, and I hardly liked to ask to go by.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

To go by them, too, without saying a word!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

He stood there and received the blanks for a million years or so, never letting one go by for fear it might be filled out.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Ambitious girls have a hard time, Laurie, and often have to see youth, health, and precious opportunities go by, just for want of a little help at the right minute.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Over this full moon, a lovely social event could be on your agenda, and you would very likely need to drive (or go by rail, bus, or plane) to another city to attend.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)