plural by-blows
1
: an indirect blow
While photographers snapped away, the two men chatted amiably about … the by-blows from Hurricane Esther, even then whipping through New York.—
Time
Time2
dated
: a child born to parents who are not married to each other
… Aubrey noted that Shakespeare … had bedded down at the Crown Tavern in Oxford; that the innkeeper's wife was a very beautiful and witty woman; and that her poet son boasted of being Shakespeare's by-blow.—S. Schoenbaum
S. Schoenbaum… and now, after over twenty years of bachelorhood, Travis has suddenly discovered he has a daughter of seventeen, a by-blow from an earlier case.—Charles Nicol
Charles Nicol3
: a secondary or unintended consequence
As one of the by-blows of having my microwave books published in London, I have been going there more …—Barbara Kafka
Barbara Kafka… the lunar programme was a child of its time, a by-blow of the Cold War arms race …—Daily Telegraph (London)
Daily Telegraph (London)Cite this Entry
“By-blow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/by-blow. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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