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

The top seed gets home-field advantage throughout the playoffs plus a first-round bye. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024

Remaining schedule: at Jets, vs. Cardinals, vs. Seahawks Odds: To make playoffs: 62.7% | To earn bye: 0% | To win Super Bowl: 2.5% Minnesota Vikings The Vikings took care of business Monday night against their easiest remaining opponent to keep pace with the Lions. —Austin Mock, The Athletic, 17 Dec. 2024

Interjection

After the team held a bye in Week 14, Johnson sat out for Sunday's 35-14 crushing of the New York Jets. —Gord Magill, Newsweek, 20 Dec. 2024

And since the Packers’ bye in Week 10, Love’s passer rating is 120.0 and Green Bay is 4-1. —Rob Reischel, Forbes, 19 Dec. 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