bimebyadv.
/ˈbʌɪmbʌɪ/ regional.
= by and by adv. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > different time > [adverb] > imminently or in the near future
ratheeOE
rathelyeOE
soonc900
shortlya1050
newenc1175
newlya1225
nunonc1225
newenlyc1275
fast byc1300
tomorrowa1382
brieflyc1460
anonc1475
soonlyc1475
of newa1500
suddenlya1500
by and by1526
soon1545
imminently1548
short1556
erelong1577
eminently1646
bimeby1722
directly1851
1549 J. Olde tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Thess. ii. 15 To haue slayne the Prophetes before, and byanby Christ after the Prophetes.
1708 Deplorable State of New-Eng. v. 35 Altho'..one Day it was Voted, That the Fort should be Attack'd, it was by 'nd by, Unvoted again.]
1722 in O. E. Winslow Broadside Verse (1930) 115/2 Indian bimeby take Captain Westbrook's fort.
1824 Nantucket Inquirer 5 Jan. Well, bimeby he took notion to hab my daughter... Well, bimeby I found em out.
1825 J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 26 Bimeby, by-and-by; some time hence.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 106 Bym by, naiteral enough, there they go!
1846 ‘N. Hogg’ Let. 12 Apr. in Lett. Devonshire Dial. (1850) 6 Bim-bye, in com'd a wacking hoss.
1848 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 1st Ser. 41 When Ma bimeby upon 'em slips, Huldy sot pale ez ashes.
1857 J. G. Holland Bay-path xiv. 156 It's a thing that'll come round byme-by.
1873 ‘M. Twain’ & C. D. Warner Gilded Age ii. 32 But bymeby she roused up like, and looked around wild.
1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds ii. 28 Bimeby one chap says: ‘Oh, yes, I know Mr. Darnell.’
1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. vii. 64 I s'pose everybody all over the world 'll know our patter bimeby.
1907 E. Wharton Fruit of Tree i. ii. 27 A small boy who said breathlessly: ‘Mr. Truscomb wants you to come down bimeby.’
1951 Amer. Speech 26 26 Common expressions in the pidgin of Hawaii are..bimeby (by-and-by), wasamatta (what's the matter?), [etc.].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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adv.1722