Word.ws English Dictionary

was on

was on is the simple past of be on.

Meaning of be on

Verb

be on (third-person singular simple present is on, present participle being on, simple past was on, past participle been on)

  1. (UK, literally, transitive) To be ranked at (something), based on polling.
    • The Tories are on twenty-five percent in that constituency.
  2. (intransitive, literally) To be performative or funny in a wearying manner.
    • You don't have to be on all the time.
  3. (literally, transitive) To be responsible for (something).
    • That task is on you.
  4. (transitive, African-American Vernacular) To be up to; to be engaged in or scheduled to do imminently.
    • What are you on today?

Questions about was on

What is was on the simple past of?
Was on is the simple past of be on.

Words near was on in the dictionary

  1. was left at the post
  2. was left holding the baby
  3. was like
  4. was lost to the four winds
  5. was no match for
  6. was on
  7. was on one's beanwater
  8. was on one's bullshit
  9. was on one's merry way
  10. was on someone's dick
  11. was on someone's nuts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: was on (page history and authors); be on (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: “was on.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/was_on. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.