To bypass something means to go around it instead of going through it. When traffic is backed up on the highway, drivers might take a bypass route through neighborhood streets to avoid the congestion. Surgeons perform heart bypass surgery when they need to reroute blood around a blocked artery, creating a new path for blood to flow.

The word also means to skip over or ignore something, especially rules or normal procedures. A student who bypasses the sign-up sheet and cuts straight to the front of the lunch line is avoiding the system everyone else follows. When a software update bypasses your computer's security settings, it gets installed without the usual safety checks.

You can also use bypass as a noun: a bypass is the alternate route itself. Many cities build highway bypasses so that through-traffic can go around the downtown area instead of clogging up city streets.

The key idea is avoiding an obstacle or normal path by finding a way around it. Sometimes bypassing makes sense, like when emergency vehicles bypass traffic. Other times it means dodging important steps or rules that exist for good reasons.