by the moment
1
7.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
cada momento
- This was getting more bizarre by the moment.
- growing by the moment
- getting by the moment
- more alert by the moment
Examples
-
Will's body is like a shadow, almost one with the water, growing less distinct by the moment.
Fiction book (1996) -
The Bas Relief is getting stranger and more seductive by the moment—bodies spinning and spawning.
Fiction book (1997) -
"This grows more interesting by the moment.
Fiction book (1996) -
Kathy is growing more uncomfortable by the moment.
Fiction book (1992) -
I noticed Marino's face getting redder by the moment.
Fiction book (1990) -
"This grows more hopeless by the moment," Valeria said forlornly.
Fiction book (2002) -
It occurred to her that she was feeling more alert by the moment; as if fear was spurring her now, instead of enervating her.
Fiction book (1990) -
He could feel the morning's gin draining out of him; his brother's antics were growing less comic and more irritating by the moment.
Fiction book (1991) -
The storm is intensifying by the moment, making it hard to see outside.
-
The team's performance is improving by the moment, exciting the fans in the stands.
Synonyms
1
7.4
Two very different things happen quickly one after the other
Antonyms
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
by + the + moment
The phrase is compositionally built from 'by' (indicating rate or per unit) and 'moment' (a short unit of time), so its meaning 'as time passes, with each moment' follows directly from the constituents. This construction is a common temporal/per-measure pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the words can readily infer the sense.
Etymology
The phrase by the moment comes from the simple image of watching a clock: with each passing moment small changes add up, so things seem to grow or change 'by the moment'. That's why it is used to say something is 'increasing or changing quickly as time passes'.