by themselves

by (one)self

1. Alone. Because there's usually so much going on with the kids, I really enjoy spending a quiet Saturday night by myself.

2. Through one's own efforts alone. You can't move that table all by yourself! Here, let me help you. My little girl loves to get dressed by herself, so tutus and cowboy boots have become the norm around here.

by themselves

1. with help from no one else. Do you think they can do it by themselves? Mike and Max cannot lift the piano by themselves.

2. with no one else present; alone (of two or more people). They are sitting there by themselves. Let's sit with them. They enjoy spending the evening at home by themselves.

See also: by, themselves

References in classic literature ?

It seems the Spaniards had kept possession of the main apartment, and had made a place for the three Englishmen, who, since their last mutiny, were always quartered by themselves, and could not come at the rest.

View in context

Within these virtual circles, teens become part of what they regard as a cool Internet practice and, at the same time, intensify feelings of being connected to friends, even when sitting by themselves doing homework, Kraut says.

Growing up online: young people jump headfirst into the Internet's world

It is simply that, by themselves, they cannot account for the aesthetic success of these paintings.

"ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM IN AMERICA"

There's something deeply subversive, however, in the notion that individuals might actually be trusted to cope by themselves with the hazards to be found in their file cabinets and laser printers.

Office Managers

owner, Waller discovered franchising allows owners to be in business for themselves, but not by themselves.

Minority Women Stake Out Franchising

Don't pull them out and put them in schools by themselves.

Women's colleges still make sense

Participants then viewed videotapes of these sessions by themselves in separate cubicles.

Charge of the 'right' brigade; the ability to know oneself and others gets a scientific lift