death (de(th) pronunciation
n.
1. The act of dying; termination of life.
2. The state of being dead.
3. The cause of dying: Drugs were the death of him.
4. A manner of dying: a heroine's death.
5. A personification of the destroyer of life, usually represented as a skeleton holding a scythe.
6. 1. Bloodshed; murder. 2. Execution.
7. Law. Civil death.
8. The termination or extinction of something: the death of imperialism.
by (bi-) pronunciation
prep.
1. Close to; next to: the window by the door.
2. With the use or help of; through: We came by the back road.
3. Up to and beyond; past: We drove by the house.
4. In the period of; during: sleeping by day.
5. Not later than: by 5:30 P.M.
6. 1. In the amount of: letters by the thousands. 2. To the extent of: shorter by two inches.
7. 1. According to: played by the rules. 2. With respect to: siblings by blood.
8. In the name of: swore by the Bible to tell the truth.
9. Through the agency or action of: was killed by a bullet.
10. Used to indicate a succession of specified individuals, groups, or quantities: One by one they left. They were persuaded little by little.
11. 1. Used in multiplication and division: Multiply 4 by 6 to get 24. 2. Used with measurements: a room 12 by 18 feet. 3. Toward. Used to express direction with points of the compass: south by east.
adv.
1. On hand; nearby: Stand by.
2. Aside; away: We put it by for later.
3. Up to, alongside, and past: The car raced by.
4. At or to one's home or current location: Stop by later today.
5. Into the past: as years go by.
os·mo·sis (o(z-mo-'si(s, o(s-) pronunciation
n., pl. -ses (-se-z).
1. 1. Diffusion of fluid through a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a low solute concentration to a solution with a higher solute concentration until there is an equal concentration of fluid on both sides of the membrane. 2. The tendency of fluids to diffuse in such a manner.
2. A gradual, often unconscious process of assimilation or absorption: learned French by osmosis while residing in Paris for 15 years.
[From obsolete osmose, from earlier endosmose, from French : Greek endo-, endo- + Greek o-smos, thrust, push (from o-thein, to push).]
