bye

¹ American  

[bahy] / baɪ /

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.

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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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Etymology

Origin of bye

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

Example Sentences

For Denver, the match-up comes after a bye week, and offers another chance to prove that one of this season's surprise packages can be the real deal at the business end of the campaign.

From Barron's

Having secured the NFC's top seed, the Seahawks earned a first-round bye and home advantage, and are marginal Super Bowl favourites ahead of the Rams, who they beat in overtime in week 16.

From BBC

"You want matches at the beginning of the season. You really want to test yourself," said Keys, who has a first-round bye in Adelaide.

From Barron's

The highest remaining seeds in each round have home-field advantage, with top seeds Denver and Seattle getting a bye for week one, known as Wildcard Weekend.

From BBC

Like Sabalenka, Keys had a bye into the second round and said she had found it tough to find her rhythm early on.

From Barron's