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

Unlike last season, when the top-four seeds and first-round byes were reserved for conference champions, the top seeds will match the selection committee’s final rankings, with no regard to league affiliation. —Ralph D. Russo, New York Times, 27 May 2025

In other words, the runners-up in the Big Ten and SEC could receive the No. 3 and 4 seeds and have a bye into the quarterfinals. —Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 22 May 2025

Interjection

Unfortunately for me and two other guys, our stuff was … bye. —Mike Ryan, IndieWire, 27 May 2025

The late bye doesn't make things any easier, either. —Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 May 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

Rhymes for bye

• ai
• aye
• bae
• bi
• buy
• by
• chai
• chi
• cry
• die
• dry
• dye