Bye and bye-bye are informal ways of saying goodbye.
bye in British English1
(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. by the bye
Word origin
C16: a variant of by
bye in British English2
or bye-bye
sentence substitute
British informal
goodbye
goodbye in British English2
(ˌɡʊdˈbaɪ)
sentence substitute
1.
farewell: a conventional expression used at leave-taking or parting with people and at the loss or rejection of things or ideas
noun
2.
a leave-taking; parting
they prolonged their goodbyes for a few more minutes
3.
a farewell
they said goodbyes to each other
bye in American English
(baɪ)
noun
1.
something incidental or secondary
2.
the privilege, granted a contestant in a tournament with, typically, an uneven number of participants, of not being paired with another contestant in the first round
3. Cricket
a run made on a bowled ball that the batsman does not touch
adjective
4.
of secondary importance
Idioms:
by the bye
Word origin
var. of by
Examples of 'bye' in a sentence
bye
She was given a bye last week as she was too ill to perform.
The Sun (2012)
The top two in each get a bye to the second round.
The Sun (2007)
He will play one friendly to say bye bye.
The Sun (2010)
She has been given a bye through to next week.
The Sun (2013)
The fastest man in the world gets a bye from the preliminary round this morning.
The Sun (2012)
So they invented a leg bye.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Britain gets a bye into the final because it is one of five countries that gives most cash to organise the contest.
The Sun (2011)
Good bye, we are not going to do anything.
The Sun (2007)
Will Mum come back to say bye?
The Sun (2009)
Let's next time say bye at the door.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
Bye Say goodbye to designer shoes and handbags.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
A leg bye is duly scampered.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
I won't get to say bye to my parents.
The Sun (2015)
If Pakistan ran a leg bye, the other half of the crowd roared.