by crumbs

prepositional phrase

Used as an intensifier; by God.

Meanings

prepositional phrase

alternative by crums · alternative by Crums

  1. datedUsed as an intensifier; by God.

    By Crums, they might get the salts and oxalic acid mixed up if they came to treat me, for there’s no love lost between us.

    1895, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC
    1 more example

    He scratched his head. "Well, damn me," said he. "I never thought I would take orders from a Chink, but he says 'hist!' and by crums you've got to hist and no back talk either."

    1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “De Profundis”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
Cite this entry
APA

by crumbs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20crumbs

MLA

“by crumbs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20crumbs. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by crumbs,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20crumbs.

Source: by crumbs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.