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

The Hurricanes are in position to earn a double-bye in the ACC tournament with a win on Wednesday. —Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 2026

Tuesday’s trip to Norman, Oklahoma, ideally would have kept the Missouri Tigers in play for the double-bye in the SEC Tournament. —Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 3 Mar. 2026

Interjection

Sierra Canyon’s boys’ team drew a first-round bye in a six-team tournament and will host the winner of Wednesday’s game between Santa Margarita at Redondo Union on Saturday. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 2026

Victories over Alabama and Mississippi State this week would earn Georgia its first winning record in the SEC since 2016 and possibly a bye in the league tourney. —Michael Cunningham, AJC.com, 2 Mar. 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