bye-stander

A form of bystander — A person who, although present at some event, does not take part in it; an observer, witness, or spectator.

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Meanings

nounbye-stander (plural bye-standers)

plural bye-standers

  1. obsoleteObsolete form of bystander.

    His being only a bye-stander was not disclaimed.

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter XV, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 300
    2 more examples

    Æruginous vomiting, ſpitting at the bye-ſtanders, gnaſhing or grinding of the teeth, or ſnatching at the bed-clothes, are the fore-runners of a diſſolution.

    1785, Thomas Marryat, Therapeutics; or, The Art of Healing, 7th edition, Birmingham: […] Pearson and Rollason; and sold by R. Baldwin, […], London, pages 35–36

    If a bye-stander assists one of the parties with his advice, it gives no offence to the other; […]

    1819, John Lewis Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia, London: John Murray, […], page 356
Cite this entry
APA

bye-stander. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bye-stander

MLA

“bye-stander.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bye-stander. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bye-stander,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bye-stander.

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