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
11710–20; variant spelling of by in its noun sense “side way”
Other definitions for bye (2 of 3)
Other definitions for bye (3 of 3)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
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