noun

• 1An incidental or secondary product made in the manufacture or synthesis of something else.

  ‘zinc is a by-product of the glazing process’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Further down the valley on the old soda ash beds, wild orchids bloom on the alkaline soil, a by-product of soda manufacture.’
  • ‘The process of drilling for oil produces toxic by-products - drilling mud and poisonous waste water, which get dumped into the ocean.’
  • ‘Sugar cane fiber, a by-product of sugar manufacturing, can be made into paper.’
  • ‘One of the most significant is carbon dioxide, a by-product of burning fossil fuels such as oil, petrol and coal.’
  • ‘Although these trace minerals are present in grains and by-products, iron, zinc, copper, selenium, and iodine need to be supplemented.’
  • ‘In the case of yeast's metabolic activity in six-carbon sugar solutions such as grape juice, the three main by-products are water, ethanol, and carbon dioxide.’
  • ‘Vegans won't eat any animal products or by-products at all, which is weird.’
  • ‘The manufacture of chemical weapons produces chemical by-products and chemical contamination.’
  • ‘Ancient Greeks and Romans observed it in its potassium salt form as a by-product in the production of wine.’
  • ‘We are not aware of any silver mutual fund since most silver is produced as a by-product of other metals such as copper.’
  • ‘Yaks provide wool and milk by-products such as butter, which are sold or bartered for grain.’
  • ‘Tons of straw are produced each year as a by-product of grain production.’
  • ‘Microsilica or silica fume is a by-product in the manufacture of silicon and ferrosilicon alloys.’
  • ‘Lactic acid is a by-product that's produced in the muscle fibres when they can't keep up with the energy demands.’
  • ‘Picric acid is a by-product from the manufacturing of explosives.’
  • ‘In Ireland it is produced as a by-product of the drugs industry.’
  • ‘Many materials are already in use or in development, including wood waste, sewage cake, agricultural by-products and waste from the food processing industry.’
  • ‘Only methanol is required as fuel, and the by-products are heat, water, and carbon dioxide.’
  • ‘Cooking gas, gasoline and diesel are by-products of crude oil.’
  • ‘But trees naturally absorb CO2 and produce in its place useful by-products: oxygen and wood.’

  Synonyms

  by-product, spin-off, offshoot, subsidiary product

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1An unintended but inevitable secondary result.
     ‘he saw poverty as the by-product of colonial prosperity’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Perhaps it was an inevitable by-product of the Bosman ruling, which allowed holders of EU passports to be treated the same as nationals.’
     • ‘Rumours are an inevitable by-product of the success he has had at Preston.’
     • ‘The snobbery and hatred of meritocracy that have been revealed this week are simply inevitable further by-products of monarchy.’
     • ‘Does the meat industry perpetuate world hunger and deforestation, and if so are these inevitable industry by-products?’
     • ‘An economy based on waste is inherently and hopelessly violent, and war is its inevitable by-product.’
     • ‘Social capital is an unintended by-product of the constitution of human capital.’
     • ‘It certainly did not emerge as an inevitable by-product of individualism or the market.’
     • ‘I tend to see the results as the by-product of an ethos where we encourage students to aim high’
     • ‘Errors are an inevitable by-product of complex systems of human activity.’
     • ‘But off-setting these places, are negatives which are really by-products of poverty.’
     • ‘One could argue that the democratic element of the resulting government was a by-product.’
     • ‘Once hunger and disease, the by-products of poverty, are cleared from the face of the earth the world shall be a safe place to live in.’
     • ‘Poverty is a by-product of domination of the needs of profit over the needs of people.’
     • ‘‘That is the by-product of greater economic confidence which results from the cuts,’ he said.’
     • ‘This is not the result of political differences or a by-product of the troubles.’
     • ‘Many of the fears and misconceptions shaping our options and influencing our choices are by-products of this fallacy.’
     • ‘That dehumanisation is a by-product of the modern world - an effect to the modern world's cause - is a given.’
     • ‘What's happening now is simply a by-product of the strategy's effectiveness.’
     • ‘A happy by-product of the fantasy is the prospect that the community will disintegrate into a free-trade area.’
     • ‘Likely this will also entail some depreciation of the yen as a by-product of this policy.’
     Synonyms

     side effect, consequence, entailment, corollary, concomitant

     View synonyms