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

Mizzou received a first-round bye for the tournament and patiently watched Wednesday night as No. 10 seed Mississippi State and No. 15 seed LSU squared off to set up the second-round matchup. —Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 13 Mar. 2025

The fourth overall seed, Minnesota (28-11-1) will meet No. 5 seed Colgate (30-8-0) next Saturday at Ridder Arena after a first-round bye. —John Shipley, Twin Cities, 9 Mar. 2025

Interjection

Four other teams, including Kansas, received a single bye and will play Wednesday, March 12. —Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2025

The Gamecocks won the coin toss earning the top seed, but both teams received a first and second round bye. —Allison Smith, Forbes, 8 Mar. 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