by-product

[ bahy-prod-uhkt ]

noun

1. a secondary or incidental product, as in a process of manufacture.
2. the result of another action, often unforeseen or unintended.

by-product

noun

1. a secondary or incidental product of a manufacturing process
2. a side effect

by-product

/ bī′prŏd′əkt /

1. Something produced in the process of making something else. When plants produce carbohydrates by photosynthesis, oxygen is released as a by-product. Asphalt and paraffin are by-products of the process of refining crude oil into gasoline.

Word History and Origins

Origin of by-product¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

What if violence against women is not a by-product of war, but rather a major cause of it?

From The Daily Beast

Like dead wrestlers, this is a natural by-product of the sport itself.

From The Daily Beast

The proliferation of zany burger toppings came next as an inevitable by-product of the high-end burger fad.

From The Daily Beast

But those long wait times are not necessarily a by-product of their single-payer system.

From The Daily Beast

The by-product of a choice to live in public; to put your information online.

From The Daily Beast

The carbonic acid used is (p. 142) a by-product, hitherto wasted, from the fermenting tuns of breweries.

From Project Gutenberg

This negative, this suppressing character of attention is not a chance by-product, it is most essential.

From Project Gutenberg

It seems to be a by-product of the Gospel that nobody wants to contribute to the maintenance of the Gospel ministry.

From Project Gutenberg

Curiously enough, it came as an unexpected by-product of a further experiment in protection, the Payne-Aldrich tariff.

From Project Gutenberg

For some reason altogether beyond our conception—and man may have been a mere accident, a by-product evolved in the process.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• outgrowth