Plural of 'bye'; in sports, advancement without playing (as in tournaments), or farewells.
From 'bye,' short for 'goodbye' (a contraction of 'God be with you'), but also used in sports tournaments meaning an unopposed advance to the next round.
The sports meaning of 'bye' is pure efficiency—tournaments invented it so uneven numbers of competitors wouldn't require sitting out, turning what could be idle time into advancement, making the word itself a clever fix to a structural problem.
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