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3001 entries found
BYOB 
initialism (acronym) for "bring your own bottle" or "bring your own booze," by 1951.
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bypass (n.)
also by-pass, 1848, "small pipe passing around a valve in a gasworks" (for a pilot light, etc.), from the verbal phrase; see by + pass (v.). First used 1922 for "road for the relief of congestion;" figurative sense is from 1928. The heart operation was first so called 1957.
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bypass (v.)
1823, "to pass by" (implied in bypassed), from the verbal phrase; see by + pass (v.). From 1928 as "to go round, avoid;" figurative use from 1941. Related: Bypassed; bypassing.
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byre (n.)
"cow-shed, shelter for cattle," Old English byre, perhaps related to bur "cottage, dwelling, house" (see bower).
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Byronic (adj.)

1823, pertaining to, characteristic of, or resembling British poet George Gordon, 6th Baron Byron (1788-1824) or his poetry.

Perfect she was, but as perfection is
  Insipid in this naughty world of ours,
Where our first parents never learn'd to kiss
  Till they were exiled from their earlier bowers,
Where all was peace, and innocence, and bliss
  (I wonder how they got through the twelve hours),
Don Jose like a lineal son of Eve,
  Went plucking various fruit without her leave.
[from "Don Juan"]
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bystander (n.)
"spectator, one who stands near," 1610s, from by + agent noun from stand (v.). They have been innocent at least since 1829. Stander-by is from 1540s.
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byte (n.)
"unit of digital information in a computer," typically consisting of eight bits, 1956, American English; see bit (n.2). Reputedly coined by German-born American computer scientist Werner Buchholz (b. 1922) at IBM.
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byway (n.)
"a private, secluded, or out-of-the-way path or road," mid-14c., from by + way (n.).
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byword (n.)
also by-word, late Old English biword "proverb, word or phrase used proverbially;" see by + word (n.). Formed on the model of Latin proverbium or Greek parabole. Meaning "something that has become proverbial" (usually in a satirical or bad sense) is from 1530s.
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Byzantine (adj.)
pertaining to Byzantium (q.v., original name of Constantinople, modern Istanbul), 1770, from Late Latin Byzantinus; originally used of the style of art and architecture developed there 4c.-5c. C.E.; later in reference to the complex, devious, and intriguing character of the royal court of Constantinople (1937). As a noun from 1770. Byzantian is from 1610s.
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