Word.ws English Dictionary

passing the torch

passing the torch is the present participle and gerund of pass the torch.

Meaning of pass the torch

Verb

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

  1. (figuratively, idiomatic) To transfer responsibility.

Questions about passing the torch

What is passing the torch the present participle and gerund of?
Passing the torch is the present participle and gerund of pass the torch.

Words near passing the torch in the dictionary

  1. passing the phone
  2. passing the pikes
  3. passing the river
  4. passing the time
  5. passing the time of day
  6. passing the torch
  7. passing through
  8. passing through the pikes
  9. passing tone
  10. passing tones
  11. passing under the yoke

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: passing the torch (page history and authors); pass the torch (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: “passing the torch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/passing_the_torch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.