Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • conjunction dialectal, Ireland, Scotland, US By way; because.
  • noun rare Movement; sway; influence.
  • noun rare Movement away; loss.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From by way equivalent to be- +‎ way. Compare German wegen ("because of, by reason of").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Perhaps from the phrase "by the way(side)", equivalent to by +‎ way.

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Examples

  • O, its a lachin teeklesome sicht for sure -- an 'then hee'l thud, thud, thud his wee bit neive' ith shouther 'oth collie, an' steek his toes in his side, just for a 'the world like a Newmarket jockey, an' then hee'l turn him roon behint-afore an 'play treeks, till collie gerns at him; an' then beway

    The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 536, March 3, 1832 Various

  • Wan was in front, beway he was the ginral, walkin’ wid his chin up as proud as a paycock.

    Irish Wonders 1878

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