by-blow
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by-blow
- /ˈbʌɪbləʊ/ UK
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
English by-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-der.
Proto-Germanic *blēaną
Proto-West Germanic *blāan
Old English blāwan
Middle English blowen
English blow
English by-blow
From by- + blow.
noun by-blows · byblow · bye-blow
- A blow struck to the side or from the side, as in swordplay; a secondary or incidental strike of any sort. Either commander took speedy advantage of it—Hopton to make a swift diversion into Sussex and capture Arundel Castle (which was but a by-blow, for in a few weeks he had lost it again).
- An illegitimate child; a child of an unknown or unmarried father. ‘Nay,’ said the landlady, ‘if I thought he was a gentleman's son, thof he was a bye-blow, I should behave to him in another guess manner; for many of these bye-blows come to be great men, and, as my poor first husband used to say, never affront any customer that's a gentleman.’