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

And the defense began experimenting with different personnel ahead of the bye, both in utilizing six-DB or two-down lineman packages and by playing cornerbacks Ahkello Witherspoon and Josh Wallace while leaving veteran Tre’Davious White inactive after starting the first four games of the season. —Adam Grosbard, Orange County Register, 19 Oct. 2024

While Kansas City is coming off a bye itself, the 49ers also have a few more days to work with after their Thursday night win over the Seattle Seahawks. —Vincent Frank, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024

Interjection

The Lions and the Vikings will play each other in Week 7. Dallas has a bye next week before an Oct. 27 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. —Rohan Nadkarni, NBC News, 14 Oct. 2024

The Titans had a bye last week and held steady at No. 26 in the power rankings. —Justin L. MacK, Axios, 10 Oct. 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