# bypass

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbaɪpæs/ · frequency rank #10,172

## Definitions
1. A road that passes around something, such as a residential area or business district.
2. A replacement road for obsolete road that is no longer in use because devastating natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides).
3. The act of going past or around.
4. A section of pipe that conducts a fluid around some other fixture.
5. An electrical shunt.
6. An alternative passage created to divert a bodily fluid around a damaged organ; the surgical procedure to construct such a bypass.

## Etymology
From Middle English *bypassen, *bipassen (suggested by past participle by-past, bipast), equivalent to by- + pass.

## Easily confused with
- **bass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bass-vs-bypass)
- **brass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-bypass)
- **badass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/badass-vs-bypass)

## Common misspellings (8)
`bbypass`, `bpyass`, `byapss`, `bypas`, `byppass`, `bypsas`, `byypass`, `ybpass`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bypass