pass Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (baseball) an advance to first base by a batter who receives four balls
    base on balls; walk.
    • he worked the pitcher for a base on balls
  2. noun (military) a written leave of absence
    • he had a pass for three days
  3. noun (American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
    passing; passing play; passing game.
    • the coach sent in a passing play on third and long
  4. noun the location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks
    mountain pass; notch.
    • we got through the pass before it started to snow
  5. noun any authorization to pass or go somewhere
    passport.
    • the pass to visit had a strict time limit
  6. noun a document indicating permission to do something without restrictions
    laissez passer.
    • the media representatives had special passes
  7. noun a flight or run by an aircraft over a target
    • the plane turned to make a second pass
  8. noun a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs
    strait; straits.
  9. noun a difficult juncture
    head; straits.
    • a pretty pass
    • matters came to a head yesterday
  10. noun one complete cycle of operations (as by a computer)
    • it was not possible to complete the computation in a single pass
  11. noun you advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent
    bye.
    • he had a bye in the first round
  12. noun a permit to enter or leave a military installation
    liberty chit.
    • he had to show his pass in order to get out
  13. noun a complimentary ticket
    • the star got passes for his family
  14. noun a usually brief attempt
    whirl; offer; crack; fling; go.
    • he took a crack at it
    • I gave it a whirl
  15. noun (sports) the act of throwing the ball to another member of your team
    toss; flip.
    • the pass was fumbled
  16. noun success in satisfying a test or requirement
    qualifying; passing.
    • his future depended on his passing that test
    • he got a pass in introductory chemistry
  17. noun (ballet) a step in dancing (especially in classical ballet)
    pas.
  18. verb go across or through
    go through; go across.
    • We passed the point where the police car had parked
    • A terrible thought went through his mind
  19. verb move past
    travel by; pass by; go by; go past; surpass.
    • A black limousine passed by when she looked out the window
    • He passed his professor in the hall
    • One line of soldiers surpassed the other
  20. verb make laws, bills, etc. or bring into effect by legislation
    legislate.
    • They passed the amendment
    • We cannot legislate how people spend their free time
  21. verb pass by
    elapse; go along; lapse; slip away; go by; glide by; slip by; slide by.
    • three years elapsed
  22. verb place into the hands or custody of
    give; turn over; reach; hand; pass on.
    • hand me the spoon, please
    • Turn the files over to me, please
    • He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers
  23. verb stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point
    go; run; extend; lead.
    • Service runs all the way to Cranbury
    • His knowledge doesn't go very far
    • My memory extends back to my fourth year of life
    • The facts extend beyond a consideration of her personal assets
  24. verb travel past
    overtake; overhaul.
    • The sports car passed all the trucks
  25. verb come to pass
    fall out; pass off; come about; hap; happen; take place; occur; go on.
    • What is happening?
    • The meeting took place off without an incidence
    • Nothing occurred that seemed important
  26. verb go unchallenged; be approved
    clear.
    • The bill cleared the House
  27. verb pass time in a specific way
    spend.
    • how are you spending your summer vacation?
  28. verb pass over, across, or through
    draw; run; guide.
    • He ran his eyes over her body
    • She ran her fingers along the carved figurine
    • He drew her hair through his fingers
  29. verb transmit information
    put across; pass along; communicate; pass on.
    • Please communicate this message to all employees
    • pass along the good news
  30. verb disappear gradually
    blow over; fade; evanesce; fleet; pass off.
    • The pain eventually passed off
  31. verb go successfully through a test or a selection process
    make it.
    • She passed the new Jersey Bar Exam and can practice law now
  32. verb be superior or better than some standard
    transcend; exceed; top; overstep; go past.
    • She exceeded our expectations
    • She topped her performance of last year
  33. verb accept or judge as acceptable
    • The teacher passed the student although he was weak
  34. verb allow to go without comment or censure
    • the insult passed as if unnoticed
  35. verb transfer to another; of rights or property
    • Our house passed under his official control
  36. verb pass into a specified state or condition
    lapse; sink.
    • He sank into nirvana
  37. verb throw (a ball) to another player
    • Smith passed
  38. verb be inherited by
    devolve; return; fall.
    • The estate fell to my sister
    • The land returned to the family
    • The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead
  39. verb cause to pass
    make pass.
    • She passed around the plates
  40. verb grant authorization or clearance for
    authorize; clear; authorise.
    • Clear the manuscript for publication
    • The rock star never authorized this slanderous biography
  41. verb pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
    decease; give-up the ghost; pop off; perish; die; buy the farm; snuff it; choke; drop dead; pass away; expire; exit; croak; go; kick the bucket; conk; cash in one's chips.
    • She died from cancer
    • The children perished in the fire
    • The patient went peacefully
    • The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of 102
  42. verb eliminate from the body
    excrete; egest; eliminate.
    • Pass a kidney stone
  43. adjective of advancing the ball by throwing it
    passing.
    • a team with a good passing attack
    • a pass play

WordNet

Pass intransitive verb
Etymology
F. passer, LL. passare, fr. L. passus step, or from pandere, passum, to spread out, lay open. See Pace.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Passed ; present participle & verbal noun Passing
Definitions
  1. To go; to move; to proceed; to be moved or transferred from one point to another; to make a transit; -- usually with a following adverb or adverbal phrase defining the kind or manner of motion; as, to pass on, by, out, in, etc.; to pass swiftly, directly, smoothly, etc.; to pass to the rear, under the yoke, over the bridge, across the field, beyond the border, etc. "But now pass over [i.e., pass on]." Chaucer.
    On high behests his angels to and fro Passed frequent. Milton.
    Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, And from their bodies passed. Coleridge.
  2. To move or be transferred from one state or condition to another; to change possession, condition, or circumstances; to undergo transition; as, the business has passed into other hands.
    Others, dissatisfied with what they have, . . . pass from just to unjust. Sir W. Temple.
  3. To move beyond the range of the senses or of knowledge; to pass away; hence, to disappear; to vanish; to depart; specifically, to depart from life; to die.
    Disturb him not, let him pass paceably. Shak.
    Beauty is a charm, but soon the charm will pass. Dryden.
    The passing of the sweetest soul That ever looked with human eyes. Tennyson.
  4. To move or to come into being or under notice; to come and go in consciousness; hence, to take place; to occur; to happen; to come; to occur progressively or in succession; to be present transitorly.
    So death passed upon all men. Rom. v. 12.
    Our own consciousness of what passes within our own mind. I. Watts.
  5. To go by or glide by, as time; to elapse; to be spent; as, their vacation passed pleasantly.
    Now the time is far passed. Mark vi. 35
  6. To go from one person to another; hence, to be given and taken freely; as, clipped coin will not pass; to obtain general acceptance; to be held or regarded; to circulate; to be current; -- followed by for before a word denoting value or estimation. "Let him pass for a man." Shak.
    False eloquence passeth only where true is not understood. Felton.
    This will not pass for a fault in him. Atterbury.
  7. To advance through all the steps or stages necessary to validity or effectiveness; to be carried through a body that has power to sanction or reject; to receive legislative sanction; to be enacted; as, the resolution passed; the bill passed both houses of Congress.
  8. To go through any inspection or test successfully; to be approved or accepted; as, he attempted the examination, but did not expect to pass.
  9. To be suffered to go on; to be tolerated; hence, to continue; to live alogn. "The play may pass." Shak.
  10. To go unheeded or neglected; to proceed without hindrance or opposition; as, we let this act pass.
  11. To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess. Obs. "This passes, Master Ford." Shak.
  12. To take heed; to care. Obs.
    As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not. Shak.
  13. To go through the intestines. Arbuthnot.
  14. (Law) To be conveyed or transferred by will, deed, or other instrument of conveyance; as, an estate passes by a certain clause in a deed. Mozley & W.
  15. (Fencing) To make a lunge or pass; to thrust.
  16. (Card Playing) To decline to play in one's turn; in euchre, to decline to make the trump.
    She would not play, yet must not pass. Prior.
Pass transitive verb
Definitions
  1. In simple, transitive senses; as: (a) To go by, beyond, over, through, or the like; to proceed from one side to the other of; as, to pass a house, a stream, a boundary, etc. (b) Hence: To go from one limit to the other of; to spend; to live through; to have experience of; to undergo; to suffer.
    "To pass commodiously this life." Milton.
    She loved me for the dangers I had passed. Shak.
    (c) To go by without noticing; to omit attention to; to take no note of; to disregard.
    Please you that I may pass This doing. Shak.
    I pass their warlike pomp, their proud array. Dryden.
    (d) To transcend; to surpass; to excel; to exceed.
    And strive to pass . . . Their native music by her skillful art. Spenser.
    Whose tender power Passes the strength of storms in their most desolate hour. Byron.
    (e) To go successfully through, as an examination, trail, test, etc.; to obtain the formal sanction of, as a legislative body; as, he passed his examination; the bill passed the senate.
  2. In causative senses: as: (a) To cause to move or go; to send; to transfer from one person, place, or condition to another; to transmit; to deliver; to hand; to make over; as, the waiter passed bisquit and cheese; the torch was passed from hand to hand.
    I had only time to pass my eye over the medals. Addison.
    Waller passed over five thousand horse and foot by Newbridge. Clarendon.
    (b) To cause to pass the lips; to utter; to pronounce; hence, to promise; to pledge; as, to pass sentence. Shak.
    Father, thy word is passed. Milton.
    (c) 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; as, he passed the bill through the committee; the senate passed the law. (e) To put in circulation; to give currency to; as, to pass counterfeit money. "Pass the happy news." Tennyson. (f) To cause to obtain entrance, admission, or conveyance; as, to pass a person into a theater, or over a railroad.
  3. To emit from the bowels; to evacuate.
  4. (Naut.) To take a turn with (a line, gasket, etc.), as around a sail in furling, and make secure.
  5. (Fencing) To make, as a thrust, punto, etc. Shak.
Pass noun
Etymology
Cf. F. pas (for sense 1), and passe, fr. passer to pass. See Pass, v. i.
Definitions
  1. An opening, road, or track, available for passing; especially, one through or over some dangerous or otherwise impracticable barrier; a passageway; a defile; a ford; as, a mountain pass.
    "Try not the pass!" the old man said. Longfellow.
  2. (Fencing) A thrust or push; an attempt to stab or strike an adversary. Shak.
  3. A movement of the hand over or along anything; the manipulation of a mesmerist.
  4. (Rolling Metals) A single passage of a bar, rail, sheet, etc., between the rolls.
  5. State of things; condition; predicament.
    Have his daughters brought him to this pass. Shak.
    Matters have been brought to this pass. South.
  6. Permission or license to pass, or to go and come; a psssport; a ticket permitting free transit or admission; as, a railroad or theater pass; a military pass.
    A ship sailing under the flag and pass of an enemy. Kent.
  7. Fig.: a thrust; a sally of wit. Shak.
  8. Estimation; character. Obs.
    Common speech gives him a worthy pass. Shak.
  9. Cf. Passus. A part; a division. Obs. Chaucer.

Webster 1913