PASSER-BY (passers-by)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: passers-by   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does passer-by mean? 

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

1. a person who passes by casually or by chance

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• PASSER-BY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who passes by casually or by chance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

passer; passer-by; passerby

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

footer; pedestrian; walker (a person who travels by foot)

 Context examples 

Laurie burst out with a hearty boy's laugh, which made several passers-by smile in spite of themselves.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Holmes was silent and motionless; but I could tell that he was keenly alert, and that his eyes were fixed intently upon the stream of passers-by.

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

The night, however, was extremely dark and stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it was quite impossible to effect a rescue.

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

If I had been a casual passer-by, I should have probably supposed that some childless person lay dead in it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Colonel Wallis declined sitting down again, and Mr Elliot was invited by Elizabeth and Miss Carteret, in a manner not to be refused, to sit between them; and by some other removals, and a little scheming of her own, Anne was enabled to place herself much nearer the end of the bench than she had been before, much more within reach of a passer-by.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I shall therefore sell these things to the first worthy passers-by, and from them I shall have money enough to take me to the shrine of Our Lady at Rocamadour, where I hope to lay these old bones.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An act of cruelty to a child aroused against me the anger of a passer-by, whom I recognised the other day in the person of your kinsman; the doctor and the child’s family joined him; there were moments when I feared for my life; and at last, in order to pacify their too just resentment, Edward Hyde had to bring them to the door, and pay them in a cheque drawn in the name of Henry Jekyll.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Beth started, leaned forward, smiled and nodded, watched the passer-by till his quick tramp died away, then said softly as if to herself, "How strong and well and happy that dear boy looks."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Outside, the stars were shining coldly in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out into smoke like so many pistol shots.

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

“It was at the shop of Morse Hudson, who has a place for the sale of pictures and statues in the Kennington Road. The assistant had left the front shop for an instant, when he heard a crash, and hurrying in he found a plaster bust of Napoleon, which stood with several other works of art upon the counter, lying shivered into fragments. He rushed out into the road, but, although several passers-by declared that they had noticed a man run out of the shop, he could neither see anyone nor could he find any means of identifying the rascal. It seemed to be one of those senseless acts of hooliganism which occur from time to time, and it was reported to the constable on the beat as such. The plaster cast was not worth more than a few shillings, and the whole affair appeared to be too childish for any particular investigation.

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