bypass vs by-pass

[clapec]

Is it possible to write the word by-pass with the hyphen, or is it considered wrong?
Thanks!

 

[la reine victoria]

Hi Clapec,

According to Dictionary.com it's optional.

I certainly wouldn't consider it wrong.


Best wishes,
LRV

 

[clapec]

Thank you very much for your reply

 

[moirag]

As a foreigner I wouldnt expect you to understand these things, as I´m a native speaker and I don´t understand it, either. I would write it with a hyphen, but I´m old (49).´And what does by-pass mean?

 

[panjandrum]

CABG seems always to expand to bypass, not by-pass.
The road configuration also omits the -

 

[A90Six]

By-Pass is not incorrect, though I would bypass the use of the hyphen wherever possible.

 

[moirag]

Without a hyphen looks weird to me. E-mail also looked weird to me till I got used to it.

 

[cuchuflete]

Two American dictionaries, Random House Unabridged, and American Heritage, have by-pass as the listed headword, with the unhyphenated form given as a valid alternate. Cambridge Advanced Learners and WR's own Princeton Word-net do not show the hyphenated form at all.

Take your pick.

 

[emma42]

Chambers English Dictionary has "by pass" for the road and "bypass" for the heart operation.

And the verb is bypass in any context, according to Chambers.

 

[PeterR]

Google's Ngram Viewer suggests "bypass" overtook "by-pass" by 1960 and now heavily predominates, though it appears the use of the word in general (both forms) is now declining
Google Ngram Viewer