thereby

/ðɛrˈbaɪ/

/ˈðɛəbaɪ/

The adverb thereby shows cause and effect: "She forgot to tie her shoes, thereby tripping and falling down the stairs."

Use thereby to connect two events: because of A, B happened: "Matt walked around with the frying pan on his head, thereby causing him to walk into a wall." Thereby is used in the infamous saying, written by Shakespeare: "And thereby hangs a tale" — a humorous way to let your listeners know they are about to hear an extremely long explanation as to why something happened.

Definitions of thereby

1. adverb

   by that means or because of that
   “He knocked over the red wine, thereby ruining the table cloth”