bye
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
An automatic advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
byIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbaɪ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An automatic advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent
“He had a bye in the first round.”
The position of a person or team in a tournament or competition who draws no opponent in a particular round so advances to the next round unopposed, or is awarded points for a win in a league table; also the phantom opponent of such a person or team.
cricket
An extra scored when the batsmen take runs after the ball has passed the striker without hitting either the bat or the batsman.
card games
A pass.
Eye dialect spelling of boy. [A male child.]
adjective
Secondary; supplementary.
Out of the way; remote.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An automatic advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent
Used this way, bye is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a sporting use: familiar to anyone who follows the game, and puzzling to anyone who does not.
“He had a bye in the first round.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Sports
- News/reporting
- Everyday conversation
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “bye in …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: bye in …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bye
- “He had a bye in the first round.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A farewell remark.
Introducing a different topic.
A farewell remark.
A special election between regular elections.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.