by-product

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See also: byproduct

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From by- +‎ product.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

by-product (plural by-products)

  1. Something made incidentally during the production of something else.
    • 1911, “History of English Agriculture”, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:
      It was about this time that the first experiments were made (in Germany) with basic slag, a material which had hitherto been regarded as a worthless by-product of steel manufacture. A year or two later field trials were begun in England, with the final result that basic slag has become recognized as a valuable source of phosphorus for growing crops, and is now in constant demand for application to the soil as a fertilizer.
  2. A consequence, especially a side effect.
    The many Indian restaurants all over Britain are a by-product of the large waves of immigration from the subcontinent.
    • 1961 February, R. K. Evans, “The role of research on British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 92:
      One of the most obvious results of the B.R. Modernisation Plan has been the increasing use of diesel and electric traction; a less obvious by-product is the increase in track damage possible with the new forms of traction.

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