# pass

Pronunciation: US say "PAS" /pæs/; UK say "PAHS" /pɑːs/

## Verb

1. To move or go from one place to another, or past, by, over, or through something.
   - Simple: To move from one place to another, or to go past or through something.
   - _Don't pass on a bend._
   - _She passed him in the corridor without a word._
2. To send or transfer from one person, place, or condition to another.
   - Simple: To hand or give something to another person.
   - _Could you pass the bread down the table?_
   - _The message was passed along the line._
3. To achieve a successful outcome from a test, examination, or similar trial.
   - Simple: To succeed in a test or exam.
   - _You need forty percent to pass._
   - _The bridge passed its safety inspection._
4. To approve a law, motion, or proposal officially, especially by vote, or of a proposal, to be approved.
   - Simple: To officially agree to a law or plan, usually by voting, or to be agreed to in this way.
   - _Parliament will pass the measure before the recess._
   - _The resolution was passed unanimously._
6. To die, as a gentle euphemism.
   - Simple: To die, said in a gentle way.
   - _Her father passed in the spring._
   - _He hoped to pass peacefully at home, with his whole family around him._
7. Of time, to elapse or be spent.
   - Simple: To go by, used about time.
   - _Let a few days pass before you decide._
   - _The winter passed without snow._
10. To decline something offered, or to choose not to play when it is one's turn in a game.
   - Simple: To say no to something offered, or to skip your turn in a game.
   - _"I'll pass," she said when the plate of oysters came round._
   - _Most of the guests passed on a second round of drinks, saying they had to drive home._
11. To go away or cease, as a mood or pain does in time.
   - Simple: To come to an end or stop.
   - _This mood will pass._
   - _The pain passed after an hour._
12. In sport, to move the ball or puck to a teammate.
   - Simple: In sport, to kick, throw or hit the ball to a teammate.
   - _Look up before you pass._
   - _He passed across the goal and nobody was there._
13. To let something go by without notice; to disregard. *(literary)*
   - Simple: To let something go by without saying anything about it.
14. To spend a period of time, especially in a particular way.
   - Simple: To spend a period of time in some way.
   - _We pass the evenings playing cards._
   - _He passed his last years by the sea._
15. To progress or advance from one state to another.
   - Simple: To move or change from one state to another.
   - _Grief can pass into anger._
   - _In twenty years, the town passed from a sleepy farming village to a busy suburb._
16. To utter or pronounce something, such as a judgment or sentence, or to pledge one's word.
   - Simple: To say something, often in an official way, or to give your promise.
   - _Critics were quick to pass judgment on the new mayor before she had done anything._
   - _After hearing from the victims' families, the judge passed sentence on both men._
17. With for or as: to be mistakenly regarded or accepted as a person or thing other than what one really is.
   - Simple: Used with for or as: to be thought to be someone or something that you are not.
   - _The forged banknotes were good enough to pass for the real thing in dim light._
   - _Wearing a borrowed badge, he passed as a hotel employee and slipped into the back office._
19. To excrete or otherwise naturally discharge something, such as a kidney stone, from the body.
   - Simple: In medicine, to get rid of something from the body naturally.
   - _Most swallowed coins pass within days._
   - _The stone was passed overnight._
21. To happen or come about.
   - Simple: To happen or take place.
   - _She never told anyone what passed between her and her father that evening._
   - _Despite all the warnings, the disaster everyone feared never came to pass._
25. To be perceived by others as belonging to a particular race, gender, or other identity group, so that one's background goes unnoticed.
   - Simple: To be seen by other people as part of a group, such as a race or gender, without them noticing your background.
   - _Light-skinned relatives chose to pass and cut all ties._
   - _Passing as a man got her into the university._
26. To go ahead unchallenged, without being blocked or opposed.
   - Simple: To go on without being stopped or questioned.
   - _A claim that bold won't pass without someone asking for proof._
   - _Her claim that the project was on schedule passed unchallenged, though several people at the table knew otherwise._
27. To continue, or to go on as before.
   - Simple: To go on, to continue.
28. To bring something, such as money, into circulation or general use.
   - Simple: To put money or something like it into use, often fake money or a forged check.
   - _He was arrested for passing fake twenty-dollar bills at gas stations across the state._
   - _She tried to pass a forged check at the bank, but the teller noticed the signature was wrong._
29. To be tolerated in place of something else; to be good enough to do.
   - Simple: To be good enough, even though it is not really what you wanted.
   - _It's not the suit I wanted for the wedding, but it will pass._
   - _The motel room was cramped and plain, but it would pass for one night._
30. To go beyond something in degree or quality, so as to be greater or better than it.
   - Simple: To be greater or better than something, or to go past its limits.
   - _The scale of the damage seems to pass belief, yet the photographs show every bit of it._
   - _Sales of the new phone passed ten million in its first month, far more than anyone had predicted._

## Noun

5. An instance of a player sending the ball or puck on to another player.
   - Simple: In sport, the act of sending the ball to a teammate.
   - _That pass split the defense in two._
   - _The team completed thirty passes in a row._
8. An opening, road, or track for getting through or over a barrier, especially a mountain range.
   - Simple: A road or path through or over mountains.
   - _The pass is open from May to October._
   - _Two passes lead into the valley._
9. Permission to go into or through a place, or a document or ticket that grants it or free entry or travel.
   - Simple: Permission to go into or through a place, or a card or ticket that lets you in or lets you travel.
   - _A weekly pass is cheaper than ten singles._
   - _Soldiers on leave carried passes._
18. A sexual advance toward someone, often after make and followed by at.
   - Simple: An attempt to start something sexual with someone, often in 'make a pass at'.
   - _She ignored the pass and changed the subject._
   - _At the holiday party, a coworker made a clumsy pass at her, and she quickly walked away._
20. The achievement of a satisfactory result in an exam or comparable test.
   - Simple: A successful result in an exam.
   - _A pass is forty percent, a merit sixty._
   - _Her passes were all in science subjects._
22. A sweeping motion, especially of the hand, directed at something or passing over or along it.
   - Simple: One sweeping movement, mostly of the hand.
   - _Each pass of the plane takes off a thin shaving._
   - _The conjuror's passes hid the card._
23. An attempt at doing or dealing with something.
   - Simple: A try at doing something.
   - _One more pass at the data and we'll know._
   - _Her first pass at the budget left out travel costs, so she went back and revised it._
24. In sport, the act of overtaking, or an overtaking maneuver.
   - Simple: In racing, the act of going past someone ahead of you.
   - _The pass came at the hairpin._
   - _Passes are rare on that narrow circuit._
31. A state of affairs that matters have come to, especially a difficult situation or a deadlock.
   - Simple: The state things have reached, often a bad situation with no easy way out.
   - _Years of bad decisions had brought the family business to a desperate pass._
   - _It's come to a pretty pass when you need an appointment just to speak to your own landlord._

## Other meanings

- (noun) One complete reading of a document from start to finish, done as a step in translating, compiling, or reformatting it.
- (verb) To wind a rope or lashing around something, such as a furled sail, and make it fast.
- (verb) To place the ball with an accurate, controlled kick instead of a hard one, especially into the goal.
- (verb) To lunge at an opponent or take a swing at them.
- (verb) To move between people, as when a title is handed on or news spreads.
- (verb) To let a person get in, be admitted, or be carried somewhere, as a ticket does.
- (verb) To strain or sift something through a sieve or fine mesh.
- (verb) Of property, to be handed over to a new owner through a will, deed, or similar legal document.
- (verb) To shift into a different condition, such as from liquid to gas, with no suggestion of moving forward or improving.
- (verb) To go through or endure an experience.
- (verb) To choose not to give an answer, especially in a quiz or game.
- (verb) In the card game euchre, to refuse the chance to pick which suit will be trumps.
- (verb) To pay attention to or care about something.
- (noun) A waterway through which a river, lagoon, or other body of water opens into the sea, often among a delta's channels.
- (noun) One sweep of a tool across a workpiece, or of material through a machine, as in sanding or milling.
- (noun) A lunge or attack made with a weapon at an opponent.
- (noun) A witty jab or clever remark.
- (noun) On a single-track railroad, an occasion when one train waits in a siding so that a following train going the same way can overtake it.
- (noun) A walk given on purpose in baseball, sending the batter to first base.
- (noun) Reputation or standing.
- (noun) The counter between cooks and servers where plated food is checked and handed over to be carried out to diners.
- (noun) A player's choice to skip a turn, often announced aloud with the word itself.
- (noun) A secret login code, especially for a site that only members can enter.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 6–7, 10–17, 19, 21, 25–30** — Latin passus ("a step") gave rise to Vulgar Latin *passāre, then Old French passer ("to step, walk, pass") and Middle English passen. The deeper root is a Proto-Indo-European word meaning "to spread or stretch out," and the English word fathom is related.
**Meanings 5, 8–9, 18, 20, 22–24, 31** — In Middle English, the verb passen ("to pass") produced a noun spelled pas, pase, or pace, and today's noun comes from it.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/pass (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).