From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
bypass
n 1: a road that takes traffic around the edge of a town [syn:
circumferential, ring road]
2: a surgically created shunt (usually around a damaged part)
3: a conductor having low resistance in parallel with another
device to divert a fraction of the current [syn: shunt,
electrical shunt]
v : avoid something unpleasant or laborious; "You cannot bypass
these rules!" [syn: short-circuit, go around, {get
around}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
By-pass \By"-pass\, n. (Mech.)
A by-passage, for a pipe, or other channel, to divert
circulation from the usual course.
[1913 Webster]