by memory
1
3.3
- idiom
:
de memoria
- When asked for the address, he was able to give it by memory without checking his phone.
- know by memory
Are you running your business by checklist and systems and software or by memory?
- Are you running your business by checklist and systems and software or by memory?
Examples
-
She can recite the poem by memory, having practiced it for weeks.
-
But the water wasn't deep everywhere, and in the moonless dark, he had to aim by memory.
Fiction book (2001) -
I knew all this by memory, but I could see well enough, after a few seconds, to take it all in.
Fiction book (1993) -
By the end of 9th grade, every student should know school songs by memory.
Academic text (2000) -
I often pull up blog recipes, read them once, and follow them vaguely by memory.
Blog text (8) -
"It's astonishing how much they learned by memory," an informant recalled.
Academic text (2000) -
Rosina's courage inspired me—and, no doubt, many others—to perform a solo piano recital (by memory) after more than twenty years of playing only chamber music with the music before me.
Academic text (1996) -
The teacher encouraged students to learn their times tables by memory before the test.
Synonyms
35
2.5
From memory without looking at notes
How Memorized
35
2.5
1
3.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
by + memory
The meaning 'using one's memory; from recall' is directly inferable from 'by' indicating method or means and 'memory' as the faculty of recall, so a learner who knows both words can deduce the phrase. This compositional pattern (method/source + memory) is cross-linguistically common (e.g. 'de memoria', 'par mémoire'), supporting immediate comprehension at B1.
Etymology
By memory shows doing something by your memory rather than by a book or notes. So by memory means doing or saying something 'from memory' or 'without reading'.