MISCELLANEOUS PREPOSITIONS.
316. Against implies opposition, sometimes place where. In colloquial English it is sometimes used to express time, now and then also in literary English; for example,—
She contrived to fit up the baby's cradle for me against night.—Swift
About, and the participial prepositions concerning, respecting, regarding, mean with reference to.
Phrase prepositions.
317. Many phrases are used as single prepositions: by means of, by virtue of, by help of, by dint of, by force of; out of, on account of, by way of, for the sake of; in consideration of, in spite of, in defiance of, instead of, in view of, in place of; with respect to, with regard to, according to, agreeably to; and some others.
318. Besides all these, there are some prepositions that have so many meanings that they require separate and careful treatment: on (upon), at, by, for, from, of, to, with.
No attempt will be made to give all the meanings that each one in this list has: the purpose is to stimulate observation, and to show how useful prepositions really are.