by the time

English

Prepositional phrase

by the time

  1. When (some future event has come to pass).
    I'll be an old man by the time you finish!
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
      But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, […] . By the time we reached the house we were thanking our stars she had come. Mrs. Cooke came out from under the port-cochere to welcome her.

Usage notes

There is some continuing situation until the event shown by by the time. There is no such presupposition for when.

Translations
when — see when
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