Word.ws English Dictionary

pass the mantle

pass the mantle verb: to transfer authority to the next in line; pass the torch.

Verb

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

  1. To transfer authority to the next in line; pass the torch.
    • In contrast, there are a few noteworthy examples of intentional multigenerational projects, in which the senior ethnographers pass the mantle, as it were, to new researchers who then take responsibility to sustain the project into the future.2002, Robert V. Kemper, Anya Peterson Royce, Chronicling Cultures: Long-term Field Research in Anthropology
    • The young girls who came of age during the Progressive era were reaping the benefits of a century of struggle waged by their mothers and grandmothers — the clubwomen had negotiated an entrance into public life, and they now hoped to pass the mantle on to the next generation.2014, Gwen Tarbox, The Clubwomen's Daughters

Forms of pass the mantle

third-person singular presentpasses the mantle
present participlepassing the mantle
past participlepassed the mantle
pastpassed the mantle

Origin of pass the mantle

A reference to a mantle worn as a symbol of office or authority.

Questions about pass the mantle

What does pass the mantle mean?
Pass the mantle means to transfer authority to the next in line; pass the torch.
What part of speech is pass the mantle?
Pass the mantle is a verb.
What is the past tense of pass the mantle?
The past tense of pass the mantle is passed the mantle.

Words near pass the mantle in the dictionary

  1. pass the baton
  2. pass the book
  3. pass the bottle of smoke
  4. pass the buck
  5. pass the hat
  6. pass the mantle
  7. pass the parcel
  8. pass the phone
  9. pass the pikes
  10. pass the river
  11. pass the sponge across the slate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pass the mantle (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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