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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

But the Dodgers would prefer to, unlike last year, at least earn a first-round bye, and ideally home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

That means if eight teams have had a bye through qualifying for Europe, 24 teams must come through from the second round.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

It is about winning the National League West, with one of the two best records in the league, thus ensuring a first-round bye.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

“We want Greenland. They don’t want to give it to us and I said, ‘OK, bye bye.’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

I run over and say bye to Benny and Brad.

From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle

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

With only eight teams there would be no byes and thus no ridiculously long layoff for the top four, which might have played a role in all of them losing their first game.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 4, 2025

Like in previous years, the top-seven teams from the previous season's Premier League were given byes to the third round.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2024

Norah had dashed past her, exclaiming: "'Dade, ma'am, I'd not let the owld man and the byes see me wid the like o' this on me bones."

From The Red Mustang by William O. Stoddard