1. To move on or ahead; proceed. 2. To extend; run: The river passes through our land.3a. To move by: The band passed and the crowd cheered.b. To move past another vehicle: The sports car passed on the right.4. To gain passage despite obstacles: pass through difficult years.5. To move past in time; elapse: The days passed quickly.6a. To be transferred from one to another; circulate: The wine passed around the table.b.Sports To transfer a ball or puck to a teammate. 7. To be communicated or exchanged between persons: Loud words passed in the corridor.8. To be transferred or conveyed to another by will or deed: The title passed to the older heir.9. To undergo transition from one condition, form, quality, or characteristic to another: Daylight passed into darkness.10. To come to an end: My anger suddenly passed. The headache finally passed.11. To cease to exist; die. Often used with on:The patient passed on during the night.12. To happen; take place: What passed during the day?13a. To be allowed to happen without notice or challenge: Let their rude remarks pass.b.Sports & Games To decline one's turn to bid, draw, bet, compete, or play. c. To decline an offer: When we offered him dessert, he passed.14. To undergo an examination or a trial with favorable results. 15a. To serve as a barely acceptable substitute: The spare tire was nearly bald but would pass until we bought a new one.b. To be accepted as a member of a group by denying one's own ancestry or background. 16. To be approved or adopted: The motion to adjourn passed.17.Lawa. To pronounce an opinion, judgment, or sentence. b. To sit in adjudication. 18. To be voided: Luckily the kidney stone passed before she had to be hospitalized.19.Sports To thrust or lunge in fencing.
TRANSITIVE VERB:
1. To go by without stopping; leave behind. 2a. To go by without paying attention to; disregard or ignore: If you pass the new photographs in the collection, you'll miss some outstanding ones.b. To fail to pay (a dividend). 3. To go beyond; surpass: The inheritance passed my wildest dreams.4. To go across; go through: We passed the border into Mexico.5a. To undergo (a trial or examination) with favorable results: She passed every test.b. To cause or allow to go through a trial, test, or examination successfully: The instructor passed all the candidates.6a. To cause to move: We passed our hands over the fabric.b. To cause to move into a certain position: pass a ribbon around a package.c. To cause to move as part of a process: pass liquid through a filter.d. To cause to go by: The sergeant passed his troops before the general and halted them at the grandstand.e.Baseball To walk (a batter). f. To maneuver (the bull) by means of a pase in bullfighting. 7. To allow to go by or elapse; spend: He passed his winter in Vermont.8. To allow to cross a barrier: The border guard passed the tourists.9a. To cause to be transferred from one to another; circulate: They passed the news quickly.b. To hand over to someone else: Please pass the bread.c.Sports To transfer (a ball, for example) to a teammate, as by throwing. d. To cause to be accepted; circulate fraudulently: pass counterfeit money.e.Law To transfer title or ownership of. 10. To discharge (body waste, for example); void. 11a. To approve; adopt: The legislature passed the bill.b. To be sanctioned, ratified, or approved by: The bill passed the House of Representatives.12. To pronounce; utter: pass judgment; pass sentence on an offender.
NOUN:
1. The act of passing; passage. 2. A way, such as a narrow gap between mountains, that affords passage around, over, or through a barrier. See synonyms at way. 3a. A permit, ticket, or authorization to come and go at will. b. A free ticket entitling one to transportation or admisssion. c. Written leave of absence from military duty. 4a. A sweep or run, as by an aircraft, over or toward an area or target. b. A single complete cycle of operations, as by a machine or computer program. 5. A condition or situation, often critical in nature; a predicament. See synonyms at crisis. 6. A sexual invitation or overture. 7. A motion of the hand or the waving of a wand. 8a.Sports A transfer of a ball or puck between teammates. b.Sports A lunge or thrust in fencing. c.Baseball A base on balls. 9.Sports & Games A refusal to bid, draw, bet, compete, or play. 10.Games A winning throw of the dice in craps. 11. A pase in bullfighting.
PHRASAL VERBS:
pass away1. To pass out of existence; end. 2. To die. pass for To be accepted as or believed to be: You could pass for a teenager. The fake painting passed for an original.pass off1. To offer, sell, or put into circulation (an imitation) as genuine: pass off glass as a gemstone.2. To present (one's self) as other than what one is: tried to pass himself off as a banker.pass out To lose consciousness. pass over To leave out; disregard. pass upInformal To let go by; reject: pass up a chance for promotion; an opportunity too good to pass up.
IDIOMS:
bring to pass To cause to happen. come to pass To occur. pass muster To pass an examination or inspection; measure up to a given standard. pass (one's) lips1. To be eaten or drunk. 2. To issue or be spoken: Rumors never passed her lips.pass the hat To take up a collection of money. pass the time of day To exchange greetings or engage in pleasantries. pass the torch To relinquish (responsibilities, for example) to another or others.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English passen, from Old French passer, from Vulgar Latin passre, from Latin passus, step. See pace1.
OTHER FORMS:
passer —NOUN
USAGE NOTE:
The past tense and past participle of pass is passed: They passed (or have passed) our home. Time had passed slowly.Past is the corresponding adjective (in centuries past), adverb (drove past), preposition (past midnight), and noun (lived in the past).
p
s
re, from Latin passus, step. See pace1.
er —NOUN
