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pass Meaning & Definition

/pɑːs/

What Does Pass Mean?

Pass is a verb that means To change place. To move or be moved from one place to another. It is also used to mean To move or be moved from one place to another. As a noun, it means An opening, road, or track, available for passing; especially, one through or over some dangerous or otherwise impracticable barrier such as a mountain range; a passageway; a defile; a ford. As a noun, it means A password (especially one for a restricted-access website).

Word Facts for Pass

Part of speechverb, noun
Pronunciation/pɑːs/
Synonymsclear, crack and lead
Antonymsfail, flunk and flush it
Pluralpasses
Verb formspasses, passing, passed

Pass Definition (Verb)

  1. To change place. To move or be moved from one place to another.

    They passed from room to room.

  2. To move or be moved from one place to another.

    They passed from room to room.

  3. To go past, by, over, or through; to proceed from one side to the other of; to move past.

    You will pass a house on your right.

  4. To cause to move or go; to send; to transfer from one person, place, or condition to another.

    The waiter passed biscuits and cheese.

  5. To eliminate (something) from the body by natural processes.

    He was passing blood in both his urine and his stool.

  6. To take a turn with (a line, gasket, etc.), as around a sail in furling, and make secure.
  7. To make various kinds of movement. To kick (the ball) with precision rather than at full force. To move (the ball or puck) to a teammate. To make a lunge or swipe.

    The Patriots passed on third and long.

  8. To kick (the ball) with precision rather than at full force.
  9. To move (the ball or puck) to a teammate.
  10. To make a lunge or swipe.
  11. To throw the ball, generally downfield, towards a teammate.

    The Patriots passed on third and long.

  12. To go from one person to another.
  13. To put in circulation; to give currency to.

    pass counterfeit money

  14. To cause to obtain entrance, admission, or conveyance.

    pass a person into a theater or over a railroad

  15. To put through a sieve.

    When it's finished cooking, you should pass the sauce to get rid of any lumps.

  16. To change in state or status To progress from one state to another; to advance.

    He passed from youth into old age.

  17. To progress from one state to another; to advance.

    He passed from youth into old age.

  18. To depart, to cease, to come to an end.

    At first, she was worried, but that feeling soon passed.

  19. To die.

    His grandmother passed yesterday.

  20. To achieve a successful outcome from.

    He attempted the examination, but did not expect to pass.

  21. To advance through all the steps or stages necessary to become valid or effective; to obtain the formal sanction of (a legislative body).

    Despite the efforts of the opposition, the bill passed.

  22. To be conveyed or transferred by will, deed, or other instrument of conveyance.

    The estate passes by the third clause in Mr Smith's deed to his son.

  23. To cause to advance by stages of progress; to carry on with success through an ordeal, examination, or action; specifically, to give legal or official sanction to; to ratify; to enact; to approve as valid and just.

    He passed the bill through the committee.

  24. To make a judgment on or upon a person or case.
  25. To utter; to pronounce; to pledge.
  26. To change from one state to another (without the implication of progression).
  27. To move through time. To elapse, to be spent.

    Their vacation passed pleasantly.

  28. To elapse, to be spent.

    Their vacation passed pleasantly.

  29. To spend.

    What will we do to pass the time?

  30. To allow to go by without noticing; to omit attention to; to take no note of; to disregard.
  31. To continue.
  32. To proceed without hindrance or opposition.

    You're late, but I'll let it pass.

  33. To live through; to have experience of; to undergo; to suffer.
  34. To happen.

    It will soon come to pass.

  35. To be accepted. To be tolerated as a substitute for something else, to "do".

    It isn't ideal, but it will pass.

  36. To be tolerated as a substitute for something else, to "do".

    It isn't ideal, but it will pass.

  37. To be accepted by others as a member of a race, sex, or other group to which one does not belong or would not have originally appeared to belong; especially to be considered white although one has black ancestry, or a woman although one was assigned male at birth or vice versa.
  38. To refrain from doing something. To decline something that is offered or available.

    He asked me to go to the cinema with him, but I think I'll pass.

  39. To decline something that is offered or available.

    He asked me to go to the cinema with him, but I think I'll pass.

  40. To reject; to pass up.
  41. To decline or not attempt to answer a question.

    I haven't any idea of the answer, so I'll have to pass.

  42. In turn-based games, to decline to play in one's turn.
  43. In euchre, to decline to make the trump.
  44. To do or be better. To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess.
  45. To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess.
  46. To transcend; to surpass; to excel; to exceed.
  47. To take heed, to have an interest, to care.

Pass as a Noun

  1. An opening, road, or track, available for passing; especially, one through or over some dangerous or otherwise impracticable barrier such as a mountain range; a passageway; a defile; a ford.

    mountain pass

  2. A channel connecting a river or body of water to the sea, for example at the mouth (delta) of a river.

    the passes of the Mississippi

  3. A single movement, especially of a hand, at, over, or along anything.
  4. A single passage of a tool over something, or of something over a tool.
  5. An attempt.

    My first pass at a career of writing proved unsuccessful.

  6. A sexual advance (often in the phrase make a pass).

    The man kicked his friend out of the house after he made a pass at his wife.

  7. Success in an examination or similar test.

    I gained three passes at A-level, in mathematics, French, and English literature.

  8. A thrust or push; an attempt to stab or strike an adversary.
  9. A thrust; a sally of wit.
  10. The act of moving the ball or puck from one player to another.

    Everyone in the football stadium expected a pass play on third down.

  11. A passing of two trains in the same direction on a single track, when one is put into a siding to let the other overtake it.
  12. Permission or license to pass, or to go and come.
  13. A document granting permission to pass or to go and come; a passport; a ticket permitting free transit or admission

    a railroad pass; a theater pass; a military pass

  14. An intentional walk.

    Smith was given a pass after Jones' double.

  15. The act of overtaking; an overtaking manoeuvre.
  16. The state of things; condition; predicament; impasse.
  17. Estimation; character.
  18. The area in a restaurant kitchen where the finished dishes are passed from the chefs to the waiting staff.
  19. An act of declining to play one's turn in a game, often by saying the word "pass".

    A pass would have seen her win the game, but instead she gave a wrong answer and lost a point, putting her in second place.

  20. A run through a document as part of a translation, compilation or reformatting process.

    Most Pascal compilers process source code in a single pass.

Noun

  1. A password (especially one for a restricted-access website).

    Anyone want to trade passes?

Verb

  1. To change place.
  2. To change in state or status
  3. To move through time.
  4. To be accepted.
  5. In any game, to decline to play in one's turn.
  6. To do or be better.
  7. To take heed.

Noun

  1. A sexual advance.

    The man kicked his friend out of the house after he made a pass at his wife.

  2. (Chaucer) A part, a division. Compare passus.

Synonyms of Pass

Pass synonyms and antonyms →

Antonyms of Pass

Pass in a Sentence

They passed from room to room.

You will pass a house on your right.

The waiter passed biscuits and cheese.

John passed Suzie a note.

The torch was passed from hand to hand.

He was passing blood in both his urine and his stool.

The poison had been passed by the time of the autopsy.

The Patriots passed on third and long.

pass counterfeit money

pass a person into a theater or over a railroad

When it's finished cooking, you should pass the sauce to get rid of any lumps.

He passed from youth into old age.

At first, she was worried, but that feeling soon passed.

His grandmother passed yesterday.

He attempted the examination, but did not expect to pass.

Of the Ancient Wonders, only the pyramids have passed the test of time.

Despite the efforts of the opposition, the bill passed.

The bill passed both houses of Congress.

The bill passed the Senate, but did not pass in the House.

The estate passes by the third clause in Mr Smith's deed to his son.

When the old king passed away with only a daughter as an heir, the throne passed to a woman for the first time in centuries.

He passed the bill through the committee.

Their vacation passed pleasantly.

What will we do to pass the time?

You're late, but I'll let it pass.

It will soon come to pass.

It isn't ideal, but it will pass.

He asked me to go to the cinema with him, but I think I'll pass.

I haven't any idea of the answer, so I'll have to pass.

mountain pass

the passes of the Mississippi

My first pass at a career of writing proved unsuccessful.

The man kicked his friend out of the house after he made a pass at his wife.

I gained three passes at A-level, in mathematics, French, and English literature.

Everyone in the football stadium expected a pass play on third down.

a railroad pass; a theater pass; a military pass

Smith was given a pass after Jones' double.

A pass would have seen her win the game, but instead she gave a wrong answer and lost a point, putting her in second place.

Most Pascal compilers process source code in a single pass.

Anyone want to trade passes?

Word Forms & Grammar

pass (third-person singular simple present passes, present participle passing, simple past and past participle passed)

pass (plural passes)

Words That Rhyme With Pass

Origin of Pass

Origin 1: From Middle English passen, from Old French passer (“to step, walk, pass”), from Vulgar Latin *passāre (“step, walk, pass”), derived from Latin passus (“a step”), from Proto-Italic *pat-s-tus, from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread, stretch out”). Cognate with Old English fæþm (“armful, fathom”). More at fathom. Displaced native Old English genġan.

Origin 2: From Middle English pas, pase, pace, from passen (“to pass”).

Origin 3: Clipping of password.

Pass: Your Questions Answered

Is pass a verb or a noun?

Pass is mainly used as a verb, but it can also be used as a noun.

What is another word for pass?

You can replace pass with words such as clear, crack and lead. See the full list of pass synonyms and antonyms.

What is the opposite of pass?

The opposite of pass can be expressed with words like fail, flunk, flush it and bomb.

What is the plural of pass?

The plural of pass is passes.

What is the past tense of pass?

The past tense of pass is passed. The present participle is passing.

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