Meanings
- When (some future event has come to pass).
It was ready by the time he arrived.
4 more examples
I'll be an old man by the time you finish!
It had been just finished by the time of his arrival.
But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come. Mrs. Cooke came out from under the port-cochere to welcome her.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLCBy the time I get to Phoenix she'll be rising. She'll find the note I left hanging on her door.
1965, Jimmy Webb, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”
Translations
French au moment où, avant que
- au moment oùwhen
- avant quewhen
- d'ici à ce quewhen
- le temps quewhen
Polish do czasu
- do czasuwhen
Spanish para cuando
- para cuandowhen
Cite this entry
by the time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20the%20time
“by the time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20the%20time. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by the time,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20the%20time.
Source: by the time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.