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

All four teams hosting CFP games won, but the top four seeds earned a bye and have yet to host a game on campus. —Scott Dochterman, The Athletic, 18 Jan. 2025

The stellar regular season earned Kansas City its ninth-straight AFC West division championship and a first-round bye. —Sean Neumann, People.com, 17 Jan. 2025

Interjection

With the victory, the best regular season in Lions history produces a first-round bye … and of course, more injured defenders, including first-round CB Terrion Arnold, who was carted off in the third quarter (thankfully, X-rays came back negative). —Jacob Robinson, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025

The winner will get a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the divisional round and potentially the NFC championship game. —Jackson Thompson, Fox News, 5 Jan. 2025

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