bye

¹

[bahy]

noun

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.

adjective

1. by.

bye

²

[bahy]

interjection

1. goodbye.

bye-

³

1. variant of by-.

   bye-election.

bye

¹

/ 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

bye

²

1. informal,  goodbye

Word History and Origins

Origin of bye¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of bye¹

C16: a variant of _by

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

   By the bye, how do you spell your name?

Example Sentences

Yet due to scheduling quirks and tiebreakers, it’s Alabama that will play No. 4 Georgia for the SEC championship and a likely first-round playoff bye.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Now the Eagles get a bye next week before they are expected to face Concord De La Salle in the CIF Open Division state championship bowl game on Dec. 13 at Saddleback College.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The top eight receive a bye to the last 16, the next 16 go into a play-off round.

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Friday's Bears at Philadelphia showdown is crucial as well, with each team trailing the Los Angeles Rams by a game in the fight for the NFC top seed and a playoff first-round bye.

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Sundowns, who are seeking a ninth consecutive league title, received a bye as they were competing in the CAF Champions League.

Read more on Barron's