by-blow

== English == === Alternative forms === byblow, bye-blow === Etymology === From by- +‎ blow. === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbʌɪbləʊ/ === Noun === by-blow (plural by-blows) A blow struck to the side or from the side, as in swordplay; a secondary or incidental strike of any sort. (slang) An illegitimate child; a child of an unknown or unmarried father. c. 1892, Herman Melville, "Billy Budd, Foretopman" (novella), in Herman Melville: Selected Tales and Poems, Holt, Rinehart & Winston (1950), p. 298, Yes, Billy was a foundling, a presumable bye-blow, and, evidently, no ignoble one. ==== Synonyms ==== (illegitimate child): bastard, see also Thesaurus:bastard ==== Translations ==== === References === “by-blow”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989. === Anagrams === Bowlby, Wobbly, blow-by, blowby, wobbly