: the position of a participant in a tournament who advances to the next round without playing
drew a first-round bye

bye

2 of 2

interjection

used as a shortened form of goodbye to express farewell
When he finally spoke, though, and said, "Bye, I'll call you," instead of disappointment she had felt an enormous rush of relief—a feeling, she thinks now, of things falling back into place.Ann Packer
The stag lowered his head and raised it again. He blew out a frosty puff of air, then leaped away, vanishing into the mist. "Bye," Annie said wistfully.Mary Pope Osborne
"Bye, Mom! Bye, Auggie!" I kissed them both quickly and headed toward the door.R. J. Palacio

Examples of bye in a Sentence

Noun She got a bye into the second round of the tennis tournament.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Not with 50 new players and the season’s second half beginning at Texas and with Georgia (in Atlanta following a bye) and visiting Oklahoma next in line. Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026 Meanwhile, Milwaukee is once again steamrolling the competition on their way to a bye. Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 14 July 2026
Interjection
The lone remaining regular-season goal is to secure a first-round bye. Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026 McKinney missed eight games in 2022 after an ATV accident in Cabo during the team's bye week, then rebounded with a terrific 2023 season. Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for bye

Word History

Etymology

Noun

alteration of by entry 2

First Known Use

Noun

1883, in the meaning defined above

Interjection

1618, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bye was in 1618

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bye.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bye. Accessed 6 Aug. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on bye

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster