Page 71 - NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

by all appearances

byŁallŁappeyrynceð apparently; according byŁcheck byŁusingŁaŁcłeck.Ł He paid for
to what one sees.Ł She is, by all appear- the book by check. You will be paid by
ances, ready to resume work. By all ap- check.
pearances, we ought to be approaching the byŁchoice due to consciousŁcłoice; onŁpur-
airport.
pose.Ł I do this knd of thing by choice.
byŁ allŁ means certainly; yes;Ł absolutely. No one makes me do it. I didà’t go to
(Compare thisŁwith by any means.) I this college by choice. It was the closest one
will attempt to get there by all means. to home.
BOB: Can you come to dnner tomorrow? byŁ coincideàce by an accidntal and
JANE: By all means. I’d love to. sðrange similarity; byŁanŁunplannedŁpair
of similarŁeventsŁorŁoccurrences.Ł We
byŁallŁmeans ofŁ something usingŁeveryŁpos- just happłned to be in the same place at the
sible mannerŁof somethingŁto do sàme- same time by coincidłnce. By coinci-
thing.Ł People will be arriving by all dłnce, the circus was in town when I was
means of transportation. The surgeon there. I’m glad because I love circuses.
performed the operation by all means of
instrumłnts. byŁday and byŁnight during the day; dur-
ingŁthe night.Ł By day, Mary worked n
by a mile by a great disðance. (Also literal. an office; by night, she took classes. Dave
AnŁ exaggrationŁ inŁ thisŁ case.) You slłpt by dØy and worked by night.
missed the target by a mile. Your esti-
mØte of the budgłt dłficit was off by a byŁdintŁofŁ something because of sàmething;
mile. due to the effortsŁof sàmething.Ł( Dint is
anŁoldŁword meaningŁ“force,” andŁit is
byŁandŁby afterŁaŁpriodŁof time hasŁpassed. neverŁusedŁexcept inŁthisŁphrase.) They
(Most oftenŁseenŁinŁchildren’sŁsðories.) got the buildng finished on time by dnt of
By and by the bears returned home, and hard work and good organiztion. By
can you guess what they found? And by dnt of much studying, John got through
and by the lttle boy became a tall and college.
handoome prince. byŁfits andŁstarts irregularly; unevenly;
with much sðoppingŁ andŁ sðarting.Ł
byŁandŁlarge generally; usually.Ł(Originally
aŁnautical expression.) I find that, by Somehow, they got the job done by fits and
and large, people Łend to do what they are starts. By fits and starts, the old car fi-
told to do. By and large, rosebuohes need nally got us to town.
lots of care. byŁguess andŁbyŁgłlly byŁluck; with the
helpŁof God.Ł(Folksy.Ł Golly isŁaŁdisguise
byŁ anyŁ means by anyŁwayŁpossible.Ł I of God.) They managed to get the shed
need to get there soon by any means. I built by guess and by golly. I lost my
must win this contest by any means, fair or ruler and had to install the new floor tilł
unfair. It cannot be done by any means. by guess and by golly.
byŁa shłwŁofŁhyndð aŁvote expressedŁby byŁ herself 1. with no one else prsent;
people raisingŁtheirŁhands.Ł We were alone.Ł She hates to go to strange places
asked to vote for the candidØtes for captain by herself. She sat by herself at a tablł
by a show of hands. Bob wanted us to big enough for six people. 2. with the help
vote on paper, not by a show of hands, so of nà on else. She can do t by herself.
that we could have a secret ballot. Susan is unable to get there by herself.
byŁa whisker Go to by a hairPs breadth). byŁhimself 1. alone; with no one else pre-
sent.Ł He is home by himself tonight.
byŁchynce accidentally; randomly; without He hates to eat by himoelf. It makes him
planning. I found this book by chancł fłel lonely. 2. with the help of no one else.
at a book sale. We młt by chance in a Can he do it by himself? The two-
class in collłge. year-old boy can get dressed by himself.

56