bye

1 of 2

noun

plural byes ˈbīz How to pronounce bye (audio)
: 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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Instead, Boise State, the Mountain West winner, had a bye in the quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed but was routed in the Fiesta Bowl by Penn State, a No. 6 seed, despite being ranked third in the country. Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 22 May 2025 The Chargers settled in for a two-game home run after their Week 12 bye. Jay Paris, Forbes.com, 15 May 2025
Interjection
The Cougars drew a first-round bye and will open the playoffs on Saturday against the winner of Oaks Christian vs. Camarillo. Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2025 Sinner, who won the Australian Open in January for his third major title before accepting the doping ban, received a first-round bye and then will meet either world No 99 Mariano Navone or Italian 17-year-old Federico Cina in his first match back. Adam Zagoria, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for bye

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of bye was in 1618

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Cite this Entry

“Bye.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bye. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.

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