by the time

idiom

: at the time : when
I had lived in 12 different cities by the time I turned 18.
By the time she showed up, I was finished eating.

Examples of by the time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But, by the time of her New Yorker Profile, Knopf had sold one and a quarter million copies of the first volume alone, and Julia had single-handedly and permanently changed the form. Ina Garten, New Yorker, 8 June 2025 Maybe by the time Jokic’s number is retired, perspectives will have changed. Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 6 June 2025 Neither company had responded by the time of writing. Alain Sherter, CBS News, 6 June 2025 The energy sector in particular needs investment; Syria produced nearly 400,000 barrels of oil per day in 2010, before the civil war, but by the time Assad fell last year, that output had fallen to 40,000 to 80,000 barrels per day. Natasha Hall, Foreign Affairs, 27 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for by the time

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“By the time.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/by%20the%20time. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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