1 general:: Phrase(s): Could I get by, please? Would you please allow me space to pass by? (Also used with can or may in place of could. May is almost too polite.) • Poor Bill, trapped at the back of the elevator behind a huge man, kept saying, "Could I get by, please?" • "Can I get by, please?" Jane said, squeezing between passengers on the crowded bus.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs