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 Chargers come in at 7–4, coming off a bye week and looking to keep their playoff push alive. —Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Nov. 2025

The 49ers’ final snap was Mac Jones taking a knee and Kendrick Bourne doing a backflip in the victory formation into the bye week. —Cam Inman, Mercury News, 30 Nov. 2025

Interjection

Last week, such physicality — highlighted by Christian Elliss’ crushing sideline blow of Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart — pushed the Pats into their bye week with a 10th straight win. —Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 7 Dec. 2025

Now, although fortified by the bye week and a win over the last-place Raiders, Herbert must also contend with the limitation of playing with a cast or splint on his left hand. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Dec. 2025

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