How to Use by the time in a Sentence

by the time

phrase
  • Yet by the time the car was finished, applications had closed.
    — Howard Walker, Robb Report, 3 July 2026
  • And by the time a crisis occurs, that permission may no longer be obtainable.
    — John Samuels, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • Police said that the two women had changed clothes and showered by the time officers arrived.
    — Minyvonne Burke, NBC news, 30 June 2026
  • Earn understanding first, so that by the time a prospect enters a formal evaluation, your firm is already the credible choice.
    — Laiba Tariq, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • As a result, by the time of the American Revolution, both coffee and tea were in reach for many common people.
    — James Doubek, NPR, 3 July 2026
  • Minetree had seen the original Legally Blonde movie 150 times by the time she was cast in the iconic movie's prequel as a teenage Elle.
    — Emma Banks, PEOPLE, 1 July 2026
  • Of course, Microsoft’s browser dominance was crumbling by the time the EU managed to get that implemented.
    — Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026
  • But by the time the bicentennial rolled around, my life had played out against the backdrop of civil unrest and the Vietnam War, both spilling from our black-and-white television almost nightly.
    — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Still, that clause could be struck down if Kelce establishes his professional identity in Hollywood as Kelce-Swift by the time of their divorce.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 2 July 2026
  • Delaying major purchases turned out to be a mistake during a period of high inflation, one that produced much higher price tags by the time uncertainty around student loans was mitigated.
    — Paxton Honerkamp, CNBC, 2 July 2026
  • Last year, the Team UAE Emirates XRG rider had pretty much sewn up overall victory by the time the race left the Pyrenees, just over halfway through the race.
    — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 1 July 2026
  • After the massive celebrations that had taken place in parts of downtown Los Angeles and Orange County following El Tri's recent wins, police were already stationed by the time the game ended.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 1 July 2026
  • That conversion and conquest crusade brought disease and defeat to native Californians, whose numbers and ways of life would be all but exterminated by the time the United States of America celebrated its first 100 years.
    — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • The ballroom is set to be about three times the volume of the White House residence, the Financial Times reported, and it's hoped the work will be completed by the time the next presidential inauguration takes place in January 2029.
    — Adam England, PEOPLE, 2 July 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'by the time.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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