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

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

The team will have to take the long route through October — starting with a best-of-three wild card round next week, rather than a bye to the division series.

From Los Angeles Times

It will not have a bye for the first round of the playoffs, having limped through much of the second half of the schedule.

From Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile, comedian and podcaster Theo Von has objected to another Department of Homeland Security video, which used a clip of him saying "Heard you got deported, dude - bye" to reveal the agency's deportation numbers.

From BBC

USC has a bye next week after its trip to Illinois.

From Los Angeles Times