Word.ws English Dictionary

pass

/pɑːs/UK[pʰɑːs]

pass verb: to move or be moved from one place to another.

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) To move or be moved from one place to another.
    • They passed from room to room.
    Synonyms:
    go, move
  2. (transitive) 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.
    • We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
  3. (ditransitive) To cause to move or go; to send; to transfer from one person, place, or condition to another.
    • The waiter passed biscuits and cheese.
    • John passed Suzie a note.
  4. (intransitive, transitive) To eliminate (something) from the body by natural processes.
    • He was passing blood in both his urine and his stool.
    • The poison had been passed by the time of the autopsy.
    Synonyms:
    evacuate, void
  5. (transitive) To take a turn with (a line, gasket, etc.), as around a sail in furling, and make secure.
  6. (transitive) To kick (the ball) with precision rather than at full force.
    • 20 June 2010, The Guardian, Rob Smyth
      Iaquinta passes it coolly into the right-hand corner as Paston dives the other way.
  7. (transitive) To move (the ball or puck) to a teammate.
    • Brady passed the ball to nine different receivers and handed it off to seven.2017 September 18, Nicole Yang, “What you need to know about the Patriots’ big win — and their next opponent”, in Boston Globe
  8. (intransitive) To make a lunge or swipe.
    Synonyms:
    thrust
  9. (intransitive) To throw the ball, generally downfield, towards a teammate.
    • The Patriots passed on third and long.
  10. (intransitive) To go from one person to another.
  11. (transitive) To put in circulation; to give currency to.
    • pass counterfeit money
  12. (transitive) To cause to obtain entrance, admission, or conveyance.
    • pass a person into a theater or over a railroad
    Synonyms:
    admit, let in, let past
Show 28 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (transitive) To put through a sieve.
    • When it's finished cooking, you should pass the sauce to get rid of any lumps.
  2. (intransitive) To progress from one state to another; to advance.
    • He passed from youth into old age.
  3. (intransitive) To depart, to cease, to come to an end.
    • At first, she was worried, but that feeling soon passed.
    • Beauty's a charm, but soon the charm will pass.1697, Virgil, “Pastoral 2”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  4. (euphemistic, intransitive) To die.
    • His grandmother passed yesterday.
    Synonyms:
    pass away, pass on, pass over, assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus
  5. (intransitive, transitive) To achieve a successful outcome from.
    • He attempted the examination, but did not expect to pass.
    • Of the Ancient Wonders, only the pyramids have passed the test of time.
  6. (intransitive, transitive) 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.
    • The bill passed both houses of Congress.
    Synonyms:
    be accepted by
  7. (intransitive) 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.
    • 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.
  8. (transitive) 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.
    • Pass the happy news.1855, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page)”, in Maud, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    approve, enact, ratify
  9. (intransitive) To make a judgment on or upon a person or case.
    • And within three dayes twelve knyghtes passed uppon hem; and they founde Sir Palomydes gylty, and Sir Saphir nat gylty, of the lordis deth.1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X
  10. (transitive) To utter; to pronounce; to pledge.
    • I may almost depend on your own justice, and leave it to yourself to pass sentence on your own conduct1749, Henry Fielding, chapter XII, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XIX
    • Father, thy word is passed.1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker...
    Synonyms:
    pronounce, say, speak, utter
  11. (intransitive) To change from one state to another (without the implication of progression).
    • And rising out of the fourth stage of deep meditation he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of space is alone present. And passing out of the mere consciousness of the infinity of space he entered into the state of mind to which the infinity of though is along present.1881, Buddhist Suttas, page 115
    • Rather, he argues that 'within the zero-stage, all special affections have passed over into a general undifferentiated affection; all special consciousnesses have passed over into the one, general, persistently available background-consciousness of our past, the consciousness of the completely...2010, Joaquim Siles i Borràs, The Ethics of Husserl's Phenomenology, →ISBN, page 158
  12. (intransitive) To elapse, to be spent.
    • Their vacation passed pleasantly.
  13. (transitive) To spend.
    • What will we do to pass the time?
    • To pass commodiously this life.1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost
  14. (transitive) To allow to go by without noticing; to omit attention to; to take no note of; to disregard.
    • Please you that I may pass / This doing.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • I pass their warlike pomp, their proud array.1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  15. (intransitive) To continue.
    Synonyms:
    continue, go on
  16. (intransitive) To proceed without hindrance or opposition.
    • You're late, but I'll let it pass.
  17. (transitive) To live through; to have experience of; to undergo; to suffer.
    • Please you that I may pass / This doing.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  18. (intransitive) To happen.
    • It will soon come to pass.
    • […] for the memory of what passed while at that place is almost blank.1876, The Dilemma, Chapter LIII, republished in Littell's Living Age, series 5, volume 14, page 274
    Synonyms:
    happen, occur, bechance, befall, behap, belimp, betide, betime, beworth, chance
  19. (intransitive, stative) To be tolerated as a substitute for something else, to "do".
    • It isn't ideal, but it will pass.
  20. (intransitive, stative) 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.
    • Chinese sometimes pass for Europeans, but Japs more often approach Western types.1941 December 22, “How to Tell Japs from the Chinese”, in LIFE, page 81
    • […] a situation where I had to know whether I could pass as a woman, and not tell anyone, and not be asked what I was doing dressed as a woman.1999, Irene Preiss, Fixed for Life: The True Saga of How Tom Became Sally, page 249
  21. (intransitive) To decline something that is offered or available.
    • He asked me to go to the cinema with him, but I think I'll pass.
  22. (transitive) To reject; to pass up.
    • Instead, the board voted to suspend the dividend, giving Orton his way at last. They passed the dividend again in June 1870 […]2013, Joshua D. Wolff, Western Union and the Creation of the American Corporate Order, 1845-1893, page 187
  23. (intransitive) To decline or not attempt to answer a question.
    • I haven't any idea of the answer, so I'll have to pass.
  24. (intransitive) In turn-based games, to decline to play in one's turn.
  25. (intransitive) In euchre, to decline to make the trump.
  26. (intransitive, obsolete) To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess.
    • This passes, Master Ford.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    Synonyms:
    exceed, surpass
  27. (transitive) To transcend; to surpass; to excel; to exceed.
    • And striue to passe[…]Their natiue musicke by her skilfull art:1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 25
    • Whose tender power Passes the strength of storms in their most desolate hour.1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, (please specify the stanza number)
  28. (intransitive, obsolete) To take heed, to have an interest, to care.
    • Mena[phon]. How now my Lord, what mated and amazd’
      To heare the king thus threaten like himſelfe?
      Coſ[roe]. Ah Menaphon, I paſſe not for his threates, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
    • As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Noun (1)

pass (plural passes)

  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
    • "Try not the Pass!" the old man said; / "Dark lowers the tempest overhead, / The roaring torrent is deep and wide!" / And loud that clarion voice replied / Excelsior!1841 September 28 (date written), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “[Miscellaneous.] Excelsior.”, in Ballads and Other Poems, 2nd edition, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1842, →OCLC, stanza 4...
    Synonyms:
    gap, notch
  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.
    • [The bear] made a pass at the dog, but he swung out and above him […]1921, John Griffin, "Trailing the Grizzly in Oregon", in Forest and Stream, pages 389-391 and 421-424, republished by Jeanette Prodgers in 1997 in The Only Good Bear is a Dead Bear, page 35
  4. A single passage of a tool over something, or of something over a tool.
    Synonyms:
    transit
  5. An attempt.
    • My first pass at a career of writing proved unsuccessful.
    1. 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.
  6. Success in an examination or similar test.
    • I gained three passes at A-level, in mathematics, French, and English literature.
  7. A thrust or push; an attempt to stab or strike an adversary.
    Synonyms:
    thrust
  8. (figuratively) A thrust; a sally of wit.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
    Antonyms:
    meet
  11. Permission or license to pass, or to go and come.
    • A ship sailing under the flag and pass of an enemy.1826, James Kent, Commentaries on American Law
    Synonyms:
    access, admission, entry
  12. 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
Show 7 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. An intentional walk.
    • Smith was given a pass after Jones' double.
  2. The act of overtaking; an overtaking manoeuvre.
    • Albon made hard work of the result. Starting fourth, he dropped back to seventh at the second start and had to fight his way back up, which he did with some excellent passes.2020 September 13, Andrew Benson, “Tuscan Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton claims 90th win after incredible race”, in BBC Sport
  3. The state of things; condition; predicament; impasse.
    • England is growne to ſuch a paſſe of late,
      That rich men triumph to ſee the poore beg at their gate.1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I
    • What, have his daughters brought him to this pass?c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  4. (obsolete) Estimation; character.
    • This passes, Master Ford.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. The area in a restaurant kitchen where the finished dishes are passed from the chefs to the waiting staff.
    • The finished dishes are placed on the pass ready to be collected by the waiter.2017, Fred Sirieix, Secret Service: Lifting the lid on the restaurant world
  6. 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.
  7. 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 (2)

pass (plural passes)

  1. (slang) A password (especially one for a restricted-access website).
    • Anyone want to trade passes?
    • If you don't have your password set within a week I'll remove you from the userlist and I'll add you again next time I see you in the chan and make sure you set a pass.1999, Jonny Durango, “IMPORTANT NEWS FOR AHM IRC CHAN!!!”, in alt.hackers.malicious (Usenet)

Noun (3) capitalized: PASS

PASS

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of positive alternative to school suspension.
  2. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of penile artery shunt syndrome.
  3. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of personal alert safety system.
  4. (initialism, mnemonic) Used to remember how to use a fire extinguisher: pull the pin, aim at the base (of the fire), squeeze the handle/trigger, sweep from side to side.

Proper noun capitalized: Pass

Pass

  1. A surname.

pass meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

pass in Hindi

to move or be moved from one place to another
गुज़र करना guzar karnā

pass in Tamil

to go by, over, or through
தாண்டு tāṇṭu
medicine: to eliminate (something) from the body by natural processes; to go through the intestines
கழி kaḻi
to change from one state to another
மாறு māṟu, தாண்டு tāṇṭu
to go successfully through
கட kaṭa

pass in Marathi

पास करा, पास

pass in Urdu

پاس کریں
More languagesFewer languages
pass in Bengali
পাস করুন, পাস
pass in Telugu
పాసగు pāsagu
pass in Malayalam
പാസ്, പാസ് ചെയ്യുക
pass in Kannada
ಪಾಸ್
pass in Punjabi
ਪਾਸ ਕਰੋ, ਪਾਸ
pass in Gujarati
પાસ કરો
pass in Odia
ପାସ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ, ପାସ କରନ୍ତୁ
pass in Nepali
पास गर्नुहोस्, पास
pass in Tagalog
silang
pass in Arabic
مَرَّ marra, اِجْتَازَ ijtāza, مَرَّرَ marrara, اِحْتَازَ iḥtāza
pass in Malay
lulus
pass in Persian
گذشتن gozaštan, درگذشتن dargozaštan, سپری شدن separi šodan
pass in Vietnamese
qua được, đỗ, giao, đèo
pass in Myanmar
အောင် aung

Examples of pass in a sentence

  • The torch was passed from hand to hand.
  • The bill passed the Senate, but did not pass in the House.
  • The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed.1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
  • I had only time to pass my eye over the medals.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  • Waller […] passed over five thousand horse and foot by Newbridge.1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in...
  • He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with pass

Synonyms of pass

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of pass

Forms of pass

Verb
third-person singular presentpasses
present participlepassing
past participlepassed
pastpassed
second-person singular present (archaic)passest
second-person singular past (archaic)passedst
third-person singular present (archaic)passeth
alternative form (obsolete)passe
Noun
pluralpasses

Past tense of pass: passed

Plural of pass: passes

Origin of pass

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.

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

Clipping of password.

Words formed from pass

Phrases with pass

146 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with pass

39 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about pass

What does pass mean?
Pass means to move or be moved from one place to another.
What is pass in Hindi?
Pass in Hindi is गुज़र करना (guzar karnā). See Pass meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pass in a sentence?
The torch was passed from hand to hand.
What part of speech is pass?
Pass can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce pass?
Pass is pronounced /pɑːs/.
What is the past tense of pass?
The past tense of pass is passed.

Words near pass in the dictionary

  1. Pasquini
  2. pasquining
  3. Pasquinis
  4. pasquins
  5. Pasquotank County
  6. pass
  7. pass a good time
  8. pass a sponge across the slate
  9. pass a sponge over the slate
  10. pass a stool
  11. pass a wet sponge across the slate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pass (page history and authors); PASS (page history and authors); Pass (page history and authors); pass (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pass (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pass.ogg.

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