Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

by itself

Definition of by itself

  1. 1 :  without being directly controlled by a person :  automatically The computer shuts off by itself if you haven't used it for a while. The sprinkler will turn on by itself.

  2. 2 :  with nothing nearby :  alone The house stood by itself at the end of the street.

Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
alt-599ca1388698f
Drawing a Conclusion About "Sketchy"
a-woman-waits-at-the-end-of-a-gloomy-pier-does-she-wait-for-charon-the-ferryman-to-the-underworld-it-is-dark-but-she-carries-a-parasol
Vocabulary Thrives in Darkness
alt-599ddb983a439
Trending: 'Acrostic' Spikes Following Hidden Messages in Letters of Resignation

Word by Word Definitions

itselfplay

  1. :  that identical one — compare it 1

    :  its normal, healthy, or sane condition

See the full definition of itself

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up by itself? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

flagrant

play

conspicuously offensive

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. acrostic "The initial letters form a word"

  2. Svengali 'A person who manipulates'

  3. syzygy An obscure astronomy term goes mainstream

  4. hegemon "Something having dominant influence over others"

  5. repugnant Trump clarifies his position on racism

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-599ca1388698f
Drawing a Conclusion About "Sketchy"

How did "sketchy" come to describe creeps?

2-pairs-of-scissors
What's the Singular of 'Scissors'?

A tricky, double-edged word origin.

a-woman-waits-at-the-end-of-a-gloomy-pier-does-she-wait-for-charon-the-ferryman-to-the-underworld-it-is-dark-but-she-carries-a-parasol
Great Words for Twilight and Darkness

Words for the goth in all of us

bunch-of-yellow-balloons-lit-by-the-sun
Helium: This Word Brought to You by a Solar Eclipse

And by the Sun, with some help from Greek.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz
name-more-food
Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game