Word.ws English Dictionary

get past

get past verb: to continue around a blockage; to get around (something); to surpass something that is in the way.

Verb

get past (third-person singular simple present gets past, present participle getting past, simple past got past, past participle (UK) got past or (US) gotten past)

  1. To continue around a blockage; to get around (something); to surpass something that is in the way.
  2. To cause something to get around a blockage; to cause to get around or surpass something that is in the way.
  3. (figuratively) To pass by unnoticed by someone who would have the power to halt or correct it.
    • He was an intelligent mathematician, and very few mistakes got past him in his works.
  4. (broadly, figuratively) To get through a difficult time; to overcome a source of grief.
    Synonyms:
    reach past
  5. (broadly, figuratively) To cause someone to overcome a source of grief or get through a difficult time.

Synonyms of get past

Forms of get past

third-person singular presentgets past
present participlegetting past
pastgot past
past participle UKgot past
past participle USgotten past

Questions about get past

What does get past mean?
Get past means to continue around a blockage; to get around (something); to surpass something that is in the way.
What part of speech is get past?
Get past is a verb.
What is the past tense of get past?
The past tense of get past is got past.

Words near get past in the dictionary

  1. get outta here
  2. get over
  3. get over on
  4. get over oneself
  5. get over the line
  6. get past
  7. get past oneself
  8. get physical
  9. get readies
  10. get ready
  11. get ready, get set, go

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: get past (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “get past.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/get_past. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.