by-the-bye

A form of by the by — Used to introduce a new topic; incidentally, by the way.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of by the by.

    "Ah, by-the-bye, I wanted to ask you about that lady. Does anyone know who she is? My wife is very anxious to find out whether she is—well—er—quite the proper person, you know! When one has young girls, one cannot be too careful."

    1897, Marie Corelli, “Chapter I”, in Ziska: The Problem of a Wicked Soul, New York: Stone & Kimball, page 25
    1 more example

    […] it’s only a ward of Mr. Smallwood’s; he is on his way to Oxford, that is all. A surprisingly clever young man,—oh, by-the-bye, Miss Meadows, we are going to make up a little party on Friday, can you come, and bring your brother, Loftus.

    1842, [Katherine] Thomson, chapter V, in Widows and Widowers. A Romance of Real Life., volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 71
Cite this entry
APA

by-the-bye. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-the-bye

MLA

“by-the-bye.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-the-bye. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by-the-bye,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-the-bye.

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