passes

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of pass.

   Time passes slowly when you are waiting for important news.

   The committee rarely passes a measure without lengthy debate.

   Note

   Spelled and pronounced exactly like the noun plural, so only the sentence shows it is a verb: a quarterback passes, but he completes passes. It works with or without an object. Time passes; she passes the salt to him; a striker passes the ball. Among the present-tense forms, only this one changes, adding -es after the final s.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of pass.

   The quarterback completed twelve passes in the first half alone.

   Heavy snow closed several alpine passes for most of the winter.

   Note

   One spelling carries every kind of pass in the plural, and context decides which is meant. Mountain passes and the passes at a river's mouth are places; the passes of a hand or a tool are movements; to make passes at someone is to keep making advances. The -es ending is the regular one after a final s, which is why the plural gains a spoken syllable.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2