Etymology Variant form of by, from Old English bī (“being near”).
1
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.
Craig's Crew plays the bye next week.
The Patriots were in the unique situation of having to play 16 straight games, then have their bye in week 17, whether they needed it or not.2020, Jerry Thornton, From Darkness to Dynasty:
2
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports An extra scored when the batsmen take runs after the ball has passed the striker without hitting either the bat or the batsman.
3
Obsolete A thing not directly aimed at; a secondary or subsidiary object, course, path, undertaking, issue, etc.
The Synod of Dort in some points condemneth, upon the by, even the discipline of the Church of England.1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
Frank Kennedy will shew you the penalties in the act, and ye ken yoursell they used to put their run goods into the auld Place of Ellangowan up bye there.1815, Sir Walter Scott, Guy Manneringv:
This was lattin at me, ye ken, for inveetin the coachman an' the gamekeeper up bye.1880, W. Alexander, Johnny Gibb:
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No word of a new house-keeper down bye, Wull?1894, David Storrar Meldrum, Margridel:
There's a friend of yours up bye that would be blithe to see you—up the rig from the auld aik on the road to the Greenshiel.1927, John Buchan, Witch Wood:
Etymology Variant form of by, from Old English bī (“being near”).
1
Out of the way; remote.
At length having gained a very bye Alley, where he thought he might enter into a Conference unnoticed by any who knew him.1765, The Parasite, page 194:
I left Colchester at one o'clock, and had a very agreeable ride from thence to my Uncle's– It is a very bye road , I did not meet a carriage or horse all the way, which is I believe eleven or twelve miles, but however I turned this to good advantage, and availed myself of the rural ride and variegated prospects, which assisted me to meditate.1797, John Henry Prince, Original letters and essays on moral and entertaining subjects, page 85:
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So riding towards Cheshunt in the same county, he put into a bye sort of a house, a little out of the road, in which, finding only a poor old woman bitterly weeping, and asking the reason of shedding those tears, she told him, that she was a poor widow and being somewhat indebted for rent to her landlord whe expected him every minute to come and seize what few goods she had, which would be her utter ruin.2013, Captain Alexander Smith, Arthur L. Hayward, A Complete History of the Lives and Robberies of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Footpads, Shoplifts and Cheats of Both Sexes, page 69:
2
Secondary; supplementary.
But the two labourers of whom I am speaking had their allowances, lived on their fixed wages with the profits of their bye labour, one being pig-killer to the village, and, therefore, always busy from Michaelmas to Lady-day, at a shilling a pig, and the offal, on which his family subsisted, wit h the produce of their small curtilage, for half the year.1894, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, Eight Chapters on the History of Work and Wages, page 138:
As we shall see presently the wife of a craftsman almost always worked as her husband's assistant in his trade, or if not, she often eked out the family income by some such bye industry as brewing and spinning; sometimes she even practised a separate trade as a femme sole.2012, Eileen Power, Michael Moïssey Postan, Medieval Women, page 45:
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It is the custom in some provinces to pay only according to the basic crops produced, but in others the share is calculated out of the total produce of the farm, both bye and main products.2018, Victor D Lippit, Revival: Land Reform and Economic Development in China (1975), page 54:
“Okay, busted. But you see all them muscles, girl?” She shakes her head, laughing. “Nope. I only have eyes for my boo.” “Girl, bye. You can still look.” She giggles. “Well, I ain’t lookin’ hard, trust.[…]”2015, Amir Abrams, Diva Rules, Dafina Books, →ISBN, page 151:
Rowlings-Blake responded: "Girl bye, if he can't take criticism from 'a joke', what's he gonna do when somebody real comes for him? #notready"2016 August 7, Susan Edelman, C.J. Sullivan, Bruce Golding, “Trump supporter's sign gets torched”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2022:
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Her jeans don't even got the loops for her damn belt LMFAO bye 😭2021 February 18, @mi55fatima, Twitter, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2023:
"i wish to get back a couple of katycats that left my side" bye did she really say this..its so sad i love her sm 😢😔2021 December 20, @kplightning, Twitter, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2023:
"I just want Johnny to leave me alone." Girl, bye. Control your lap dog.2023 July 11, @KimcastCares, Twitter, archived from the original on 20 Jul 2023: