bypass

American  

[bahy-pas, -pahs] / ˈbaɪˌpæs, -ˌpɑs /

Or by-pass

noun

• bypasses
  plural

1. a road enabling motorists to avoid a city or other heavy traffic points or to drive around an obstruction.

2. a secondary pipe or other channel connected with a main passage, as for conducting a liquid or gas around a fixture, pipe, or appliance.

3. Electricity. shunt.

4. a surgical procedure in which a diseased or obstructed hollow organ is temporarily or permanently circumvented.

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verb (used with object)

• bypasses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bypassed,
  past participle,  past
• bypast,
  past participle,  past
• bypassing
  present participle

1. to avoid (an obstruction, city, etc.) by following a bypass.

2. to cause (fluid or gas) to follow a secondary pipe or bypass.

3. to neglect to consult or to ignore the opinion or decision of.

   He bypassed the foreman and took his grievance straight to the owner.

bypass British  

/ ˈbaɪˌpɑːs /

noun

1. a main road built to avoid a city or other congested area

2. any system of pipes or conduits for redirecting the flow of a liquid

3. a means of redirecting the flow of a substance around an appliance through which it would otherwise pass

4. surgery

   1. the redirection of blood flow, either to avoid a diseased blood vessel or in order to perform heart surgery See coronary bypass

   2. ( as modifier )

      bypass surgery

5. electronics

   1. an electrical circuit, esp one containing a capacitor, connected in parallel around one or more components, providing an alternative path for certain frequencies

   2. ( as modifier )

      a bypass capacitor

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verb

1. to go around or avoid (a city, obstruction, problem, etc)

2. to cause (traffic, fluid, etc) to go through a bypass

3. to proceed without reference to (regulations, a superior, etc); get round; avoid

bypass Scientific  

/ bī′păs′ /

1. A passage created surgically to divert the flow of blood or other bodily fluid or to circumvent an obstructed or diseased organ.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• by-passer
  noun
• bypasser
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bypasses
  plural

Participles

• bypassing
  present
• bypassed
  past
• bypast
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bypass
  simple
• bypasses
  simple
• have bypassed
  perfect
• have bypast
  perfect
• has bypassed
  perfect
• has bypast
  perfect
• am bypassing
  progressive
• are bypassing
  progressive
• is bypassing
  progressive
• have been bypassing
  perfect progressive
• has been bypassing
  perfect progressive

Past

• bypassed
  simple
• bypast
  simple
• had bypassed
  perfect
• had bypast
  perfect
• was bypassing
  progressive
• were bypassing
  progressive
• had been bypassing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bypass
  simple
• will have bypassed
  perfect
• will have bypast
  perfect
• will be bypassing
  progressive
• will have been bypassing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of bypass

1840–50; apparently back formation from by-passage; see by (adj.), passage ¹

Explanation

When you bypass something, you avoid it, go around it, or ignore it. You might wish you could just read the books assigned in your English class and bypass the papers and exams. You can bypass something physically, like when you bypass the busiest intersections in town during rush hour, driving on smaller streets instead. You can also bypass things figuratively: political candidates often bypass hard questions from reporters, and big businesses sometimes find ways to bypass some of the taxes they owe. As a noun, a bypass is either an alternative road or route; or a heart operation that allows blood flow when an artery is blocked.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bypass bypasses bypassed bypast bypassing

A payable-on-death designation is a contract with the bank, rather than a bequest, and that share can bypass probate.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Iran has long land borders with seven countries and years of experience using them to bypass sanctions.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Patrons who place orders via the Blank Street app can bypass the line and approach the counter directly to pick up their drinks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

“Article 215 gives him an opportunity to assert executive authority, deal directly with governors and mayors, bypass political gridlock and lean on Washington,” said Lansberg-Rodríguez.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

And now a vast number of people have found a way to bypass it.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Forum Statement: Omits any mention of data manipulation, interference with global reports or governance bypasses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Writing in the Guardian, philosophers Mark Alfano and Michał Klincewicz called this AI-generated “slopaganda” — and argued that it works precisely because the aesthetic presentation bypasses reasoning and hits our emotions directly.

From Salon ● May 24, 2026

California, Texas, and Ohio use specialized transfer-on-death deeds, while Florida uses a “lady bird” deed, which also bypasses probate.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 31, 2026

That pipeline carries more than a million barrels of oil a day and provides Europe with a vital supply route that bypasses both Russian and Iranian territory.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

She bypasses the cookware, flips through the pages.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

In a blog post, external, the ChatGPT-maker said it was introducing new measures after its AI agents autonomously bypassed safeguards and hacked the tech start-up Hugging Face.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

The Aman spokesperson said Walker bypassed the main entrance, ending up at staff access points instead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The platform also did not "adequately" stop the sale of counterfeit products because its mandatory "brand authorisation" system "proved ineffective and understaffed. Therefore, traders easily bypassed this", the EU found.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

Locke educators say evaluators have bypassed a crucial element: academic growth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

Now that he wanted time to move as slowly as possible, it seemed to have sped up, and understanding was coming so fast it seemed to have bypassed thought.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

The vague apprehensions of bypast years reviving at this crisis, some neighbours had been on the outlook for a catastrophe.

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 440 Volume 17, New Series, June 5, 1852 by William Chambers

By it all Acts bypast, and especially those of the five Jameses, not agreeing with God's Word and contrary to the Confession, and 'wherethrow divers innocents did suffer,' were abolished and extinguished for ever.

From John Knox by A. Taylor Innes

But for these dozen or twenty years bypast we have preferred a narrow beat, snugly seated on a shelty, and pad the hoof on the hill no more.

From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by John Lyde Wilson

It's no mony months bypast; it was a lang courtship,—few folk kend the reason by Jenny and mysell.

From Old Mortality, Volume 2. by Sir Walter Scott

Now as more Americans rethink the value of college, the idea of bypassing a degree is gaining luster among a new set of founders, our colleagues Chip Cutter and Allison Pohle report.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Opponents have repeatedly questioned the law's viability and raised concerns over privacy, the efficacy of age-verification tools, the risks of young people bypassing them, and how quickly the ban has been designed and brought in.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Contempt resolutions generally would go through the full Senate, and bypassing that route would open fresh legal and political questions for President Donald Trump's administration.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Starting Thursday morning, more than 50,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta, either by bypassing fences on land or attempting to swim along the coast.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

She made it to the nearest trolley platform, bypassing the elevator and taking the winding staircase up to wait, then pulled a rope overhead.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

Related Words

• circumvent
• ignore
• neglect
• omit
• sidestep
• skirt