bye

1 of 2

noun

ˈbī 

plural byes ˈbīz 

: the position of a participant in a tournament who advances to the next round without playing

drew a first-round bye

bye

2 of 2

interjection

—used as a shortened form of goodbye to express farewell

When he finally spoke, though, and said, "Bye, I'll call you," instead of disappointment she had felt an enormous rush of relief—a feeling, she thinks now, of things falling back into place.

—Ann Packer

The stag lowered his head and raised it again. He blew out a frosty puff of air, then leaped away, vanishing into the mist. "Bye," Annie said wistfully.

—Mary Pope Osborne

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Auggie!" I kissed them both quickly and headed toward the door.

—R. J. Palacio

Examples of bye in a Sentence

Noun

She got a bye into the second round of the tennis tournament.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

If not, look for Fred Warner to revert into early-season MVP mode as his troublesome ankle and steely mindset recharge over the bye. —Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 1 Nov. 2024

Pro Football Focus ranked the Bears’ line 18th last week, coming out of a Week 7 bye. —Phil Rogers, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024

Interjection

The Lions and the Vikings will play each other in Week 7. Dallas has a bye next week before an Oct. 27 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 14 Oct. 2024

The Titans had a bye last week and held steady at No. 26 in the power rankings. —Justin L. MacK, Axios, 10 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

alteration of by entry 2

First Known Use

Noun

1883, in the meaning defined above

Interjection

1618, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing bye

• bye-bye
• bye-election
• by the bye
• go bye-bye
• go bye-byes
• good-bye