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

Coming off a bye week, Engram had season-highs in catches (six), targets (nine) and yards (79). —Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2026

Five teams had first-round byes in Division 1 last season. —Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 9 Apr. 2026

Interjection

The Colts were 8-2 entering their bye week this past season, coming in as one of the bigger surprises in the NFL. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 15 Apr. 2026

And cool-girl of the moment, Dakota Johnson, said bye to plain white sneakers, instead replacing them with a vastly underrated style that’s already blowing up this year. —Eva Thomas, InStyle, 12 Apr. 2026

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