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• bye
  bye

  noun

  in a tournament, the preferential status of a player or team not paired with a competitor in an early round and thus automatically advanced to play in the next round.
• bye-
  bye-

  variant of by-.

bye

¹ American  

[bahy] / baɪ /

noun

• byes
  plural

1. Sports. in a tournament, the preferential status of a player or team not paired with a competitor in an early round and thus automatically advanced to play in the next round.

   The top three seeded players received byes in the first round.

2. Golf. the holes of a stipulated course still unplayed after the match is finished.

3. Cricket. a run made on a ball not struck by the batsman.

4. something subsidiary, secondary, or out of the way.

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adjective

1. by.

idioms

1. by the bye, by the way; incidentally: Also by the by

   By the bye, how do you spell your name?

bye ² American  

[bahy] / baɪ /

interjection

1. goodbye.

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bye- ³ American  

1. variant of by-.

   bye-election.

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bye ¹ British  

/ baɪ /

noun

1. sport the situation in which a player or team in an eliminatory contest wins a preliminary round by virtue of having no opponent

2. golf one or more holes of a stipulated course that are left unplayed after the match has been decided

3. cricket a run scored off a ball not struck by the batsman: allotted to the team as an extra and not to the individual batsman See also leg bye

4. something incidental or secondary

5. incidentally; by the way: used as a sentence connector

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bye ² British  

1. informal goodbye

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• byes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bye

1710–20; variant spelling of by in its noun sense “side way”

Explanation

If you say, "Bye!" you mean "farewell" or "so long." In other words, bye is a shorter way to say, "Goodbye." When you need a quick, informal way to bid your friend adieu, you'll probably say, "Bye!" It's shorthand for "goodbye," and when adults speak to babies and children, there's a tendency to double it: "Bye bye!" Another kind of bye is when an athlete moves directly into the next round of a competition without playing, a meaning that originated with the game of cricket.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bye bye- byes

The Dodgers were already locked into a No. 2 seed, with a first-round bye.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

He has emerged as a critical member of the AL’s best team, which earlier this week clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Baseball’s playoff format, which grew from 10 entrants to 12 in 2022, gives the top two seeds in each league a first-round bye.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

New York Yankees: The return of staff ace Fried is huge for a team that has clinched a wild-card berth and remains a long step behind the Rays for a division title and first-round bye.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

He doesn’t say bye or anything, he just looks at me for a little longer, likely sizing me up, or maybe questioning whether or not I’m actually luring him into a trap.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

But from then on they worked together in England and Scotland organizing, speaking, heckling members of the government, campaigning at bye- elections; going to Holloway Prison together, where they joined the Englishwomen on hunger strike.

From Jailed for Freedom by Doris Stevens

Present: FLORRIE, ISABEL, MAY, LUCILLA, KATHLEEN, DORA, MARY, and some others, who have saved time for the bye- Lecture.

From The Ethics of the Dust by John Ruskin

Baker's bouncer went for four byes and the day got worse from there.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

New England and Seattle chase top seeds and first-round playoff byes in this weekend's penultimate games of the NFL season while six clubs fight for the last three post-season berths.

From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025

This year will be the Dodgers’ first time playing in the new wild card round, after they secured byes to the division series in each of the past three seasons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025

The first ball of the over flew past wicketkeeper Jamie Smith for four byes.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025

The byes has been tellin' av me as yez learn 'em ter git on.

From The Angel of the Gila: A Tale of Arizona by Cora Marsland