bye

¹ American  

[bahy] / baɪ /

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.

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.

---

bye- ³ American  

1. variant of by-.

   bye-election.

---

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

---

bye ² British  

1. informal goodbye

---

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

"They don't want to give it to us. And I said, 'bye, bye.'"

From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026

It was a pedestrian start to Littler's semi-final with Van Gerwen, with the Dutchman taking time to warm up having received a bye due to Gian van Veen having to pull out with kidney stones.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026

Friday against 91st-ranked Adam Walton of Australia after a first-round bye.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

Their eight-try effort came after a first-round bye, while Moana had opened their season with a win against Fijian Drua in Lautoka last week.

From Barron's • Feb. 21, 2026

“I work day and night and have a small drawing ready for you which I'll send bye and bye. I have no more money for a stamp, excuse the postcard.”

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman