by-election
noun
by-elec·tion
ˈbī-ə-ˌlek-shən 
variants
or less commonly bye-election
: a special election held between regular elections in order to fill a vacancy
Examples of by-election in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Council by-elections through January 2026 show Reform winning 40% of contested seats.
—
Güney Yıldız, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
Somewhere in the South Director: Tan Ce Ding Producer: Anthony Chen
An aimless young man becomes entangled in a local political campaign during a by-election in a small Malaysian town.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Jan. 2026
This stand-alone episode focusses on the unravelling of Henry, who—reflecting Down and Kay’s commitment to hew closely to real-world events—wins a parliamentary seat in a by-election, only to lose it during the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the general election of July, 2024.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
The Conservative Party leader won a by-election on Monday in Battle River-Crowfoot, a Tory electoral district in Alberta that he’s never lived in.
—David Moscrop, Time, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for by-election
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Güney Yıldız, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
Somewhere in the South Director: Tan Ce Ding Producer: Anthony Chen
An aimless young man becomes entangled in a local political campaign during a by-election in a small Malaysian town.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Jan. 2026
This stand-alone episode focusses on the unravelling of Henry, who—reflecting Down and Kay’s commitment to hew closely to real-world events—wins a parliamentary seat in a by-election, only to lose it during the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the general election of July, 2024.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
The Conservative Party leader won a by-election on Monday in Battle River-Crowfoot, a Tory electoral district in Alberta that he’s never lived in.
—David Moscrop, Time, 20 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for by-election
Cite this Entry
“By-election.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/by-election. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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