Dictionary.com

bye

1
[ bahy ]
/ baɪ /
Save This Word!

noun Also by.
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.
Golf. the holes of a stipulated course still unplayed after the match is finished.
Cricket. a run made on a ball not struck by the batsman.
something subsidiary, secondary, or out of the way.
adjective
by.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Idioms about bye

    by the bye, by the way; incidentally: By the bye, how do you spell your name?Also by the by .

Origin of bye

1
1710–20; variant spelling of by in its noun sense “side way”

Other definitions for bye (2 of 3)

bye2
[ bahy ]
/ baɪ /

interjection

Other definitions for bye (3 of 3)

bye-

variant of by-: bye-election.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bye in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bye (1 of 2)

bye1
/ (baɪ) /

noun
sport the situation in which a player or team in an eliminatory contest wins a preliminary round by virtue of having no opponent
golf one or more holes of a stipulated course that are left unplayed after the match has been decided
cricket a run scored off a ball not struck by the batsman: allotted to the team as an extra and not to the individual batsmanSee also leg bye
something incidental or secondary
by the bye incidentally; by the way: used as a sentence connector

Word Origin for bye

C16: a variant of by

British Dictionary definitions for bye (2 of 2)

bye2

bye-bye


sentence substitute
British informal goodbye
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK