⏳ To pass (time) 🚶 To pass 📝 To use a name 📏 To follow rules

to go by

174 1.0

To move past someone or something

phrasal verb
/ɡoʊ baɪ/

: pasar

We have to go by the river
people go by
watch traffic go by

He said I'm going to go by and check it out.

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Examples

Not many cars go by, so when we hear the sound of one, we listen.

Fiction book (1992)
You kept seeing the same buildings go by.

Super Size Me (2004)
Yeah, the moon, the stars and some cars going by really fast.
Did you see him go by in the hall?

Bubba Ho-tep (2002)
All right, so I go by the hospital last night, right?

Freedomland (2006)
I just saw the yellow box go by.

Look Who's Talking (1989)
You just watch the parade go by.

The Lost City (2005)
Before many had gone by, an old green pickup slowed and stopped.

Academic text (2009)
He said I'm going to go by and check it out.

Team Coco
Did you see him go by in the hall?

Synonyms

to pass

vsto go by

∞ 1.0

To move past something or someone

is the narrower action of moving by, not broader travel through or across

to pass by

vsto go by

104 1.2

Go past someone or something without stopping

is neutral movement that does not stress whether one stops or not

to walk past

vsto go by

97 1.0

To go past something on foot without stopping

is the general movement past that does not require being on foot

to go past

vsto go by

60 1.0

Move by someone or something without stopping

is the common phrasing that shares the same basic movement meaning

to run by

vsto go by

17 1.0

To pass close to a person or place while moving quickly on foot

is slower or neutral movement that does not require quick running

to fly by

vsto go by

7 2.2

To move past something while in the air

is general movement at ground level and not limited to flying

to slide by

vsto go by

5 4.2

Time passes smoothly without you noticing

is the physical act of moving past, not the temporal passing of time

to zip by

vsto go by

Informal

3 3.6

To pass very quickly, as when a car goes by or time moves fast

is ordinary movement past that does not emphasize great speed

to glide by

vsto go by

1 3.9

Time that passes quickly without you noticing

is physical movement past, not the metaphorical sense of time passing

Antonyms

to stay put

Informal

126 2.0

Remain in the same place without moving

stop

117 1.0

An act when something ends or pauses

How Fast

to overtake

58 3.3

to run past

21 1.3

to slide by

5 4.2

to go by

174 1.0

to pass by

104 1.2

Surface Forms

go by infinitive

going by present participle

goes by third person singular

went by past

gone by past participle

Morphology

go + by

The meaning 'to pass or elapse' is directly derivable from combining 'go' (to move/advance) with 'by' (indicating movement past something): time is conceptualized as moving past, so the composite meaning is a straightforward motion metaphor. This mapping is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English particle/preposition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would very likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Go by comes from the clear image of something moving past you, like a parade or a car that 'goes by'. The parts go and by show motion past you, so it means 'to pass'.