Does Bypass Need a Hyphen

Senior Member. 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.

What does it mean when someone says bypass?

: to go around or avoid (a place or area) : to avoid or ignore (someone or something) especially to get something done quicker.

What is the root word of bypass?

also by-pass, 1848, “small pipe passing around a valve in a gasworks” (for a pilot light, etc.), from the verbal phrase; see by + pass (v.). First used 1922 for “road for the relief of congestion;” figurative sense is from 1928. The heart operation was first so called 1957. bypass (v.)