Read full poem →Then to his poor trade he turned,
Whereby the daily meal was earned.
Hard he laboured, long and well;
Dictionary Entry
whereby
Part of SpeechadverbPronunciation/wɛə(ɹ)ˈbaɪ/Word FrequencyCommon (4.7)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)Used In Literature ↓(interrogative) By what, in which direction; how.
In a Sentence
“Whereby goest thou?”
Published Usage Examples
““Thou whom our souls do love,” is the title whereby they know him and converse with him,”
“The Duke of York having persuaded himself that she was part of his property, resolved to pursue his claim by the same title whereby his brother had appropriated to himself the favours of Miss Wells; but he did not find her inclined to enter into his service, though she had engaged in that of the duchess.”
This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 12 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.
Origin
Middle English, from 'where' + 'by'.
Common Phrases
Poetry examples for “whereby”
Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.
