passerby

UK/ˈpɑː.sə.baɪ/US/ˈpæs.ɚˌbaɪ/

nounB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,310 of 15,258neutral

A passerby is a person who happens to be walking past. Ask a passerby, a passerby called for help, stopped by a passerby.

The plural moves the s to the middle — passersby — because the by is a preposition rather than part of the noun, and the same happens in attorneys general. The word matters in first aid training, since a passerby is who usually finds somebody in trouble.

Definitions of passerby

1nounpasserbyA person who happens to be walking past.B1+
“A passerby heard the cries and called an ambulance.”

passerby is a person.

Also accepted in games: passer-by

Where it comes from

passer-by comes from passer + by. Compare bystander.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the City

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passerby in the wild

Once it is picked up by an unfortunate passerby, it reverts to its true form and attacks the victim.
Tiyanak
Usually based on a single theme and meant to be advertisements; they were created in an attempt to interest the passerby in the upcoming circus.
Cyrk (art)
I asked the man politely." The name of the passerby was, as of November 2009, unknown.
Spieprzaj dziadu!
On 1 April 2022, when phase I remaining section of Line 7 was opened, its new terminus became Wushan Square so this station became a passerby.
Citizen Center station
As a result of the explosion, two police officers and one passerby civilian along with the attacker were killed and 23 others were injured.
September 2001 Istanbul bombing

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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