past

PAST/pæst/UKPAHST/pɑːst/

Often confused with passed

12 meanings of past

1
time before nownoununcountable
All of time before now, considered as distinct from the present and the future.
Historians study the past to understand how societies changed over centuries.
He prefers not to dwell on the past and looks ahead instead.
UsageUsually the past; for earlier times say in the past (not ~~incorrect: in past~~).
Similarhistory, yesterday
Oppositefuture, present
Note
Italo Calvino's narrator in If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (1979) wonders "from which of my pasts" a visitor is arriving, treating one life as several pasts rather than one.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Italo Calvino wrote If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. en.wikipedia.org
The novel was first published in 1979. it.wikipedia.org
A narrator wonders 'from which of my pasts' an arriving person comes, imagining several personal pasts. en.wiktionary.org
2
most recentadjective
Of a period of time, having just gone by; the most recent one before now.
The past month has been unusually warm for this region.
He visited three countries over the past summer.
UsageUsually the past + a time word: the past month, over the past year, these past few weeks.
Similarlast, previous, preceding, recent
Oppositenext, coming
3
over nowadjective
Having already happened and now finished; belonging to a time gone by.
Now that the storm is past, the roads are open again.
Those difficult years are past, though their lessons remain.
UsageUse past before a noun (past mistakes) or after be (the storm is past). With the verb, write the storm has passed.
Similarover, gone, finished, done, ended
Oppositefuture
4
further alongpreposition
Beyond a given point in location or quantity; further along than.
Their house is past the old bridge, on the left.
The line of waiting people stretched past the corner.
UsageOften just past or well past a place or number.
Similarbeyond, after
Oppositebefore
5
passing bypreposition
Going by a point or thing, especially without stopping or slowing down.
She walked past the bakery, ignoring the smell of fresh bread.
The runners streamed past the cheering crowd near the finish.
UsagePast follows a verb of motion (walked past the bakery); the verb itself is passed (she passed the bakery).
Similarby

Less common meanings

6
telling timepreposition
Used in telling time to indicate minutes after the hour just named.
The train departs at twenty past eight from platform two.
The meeting started at ten past nine, so we missed the opening remarks.
UsageCount forward from the hour: twenty past eight, quarter past nine; before the hour, use to: twenty to nine.
Similarafter
Oppositeto
Note
In British and Irish speech the word often drops out after half. "Half twelve" means half past twelve, not half of twelve.
7
got overpreposition
Having recovered from or moved beyond a difficult or painful experience.
It took years, but she's past the trauma of the accident.
He's well past those troubled days and rarely thinks of them.
UsageOften be past something or get past it: past the worst.
Similarover, beyond
8
on byadverb
In a direction that goes by a person, place, or thing.
Cars rushed past as she waited at the curb.
The years seemed to fly past before he knew it.
UsageUsually after a verb of motion: go past, rush past, fly past.
Similarby
9
no longer ablepreposition
No longer able or fit to do a particular thing.
She's past the point of changing her habits now.
At ninety, my grandfather is past driving, so we take him shopping.
UsageUse past + an -ing form (past caring, past driving), or past the point of + an -ing form.
Similarbeyond
10
of a tenseadjective
Of a verb tense, expressing an action that has already occurred or a state that previously existed.
The past tense of 'go' is 'went.'
English uses past forms to narrate completed events.
Similarpreterite
Oppositepresent, future
Note
Here the word appears in terms of grammar: past tense, past participle, simple past. Those labels name separate things. The simple past usually expresses past actions or states, and the past participle is the form used after have or in the passive. For regular verbs one spelling serves both, so the label, not the spelling, tells you which job the form is doing.
11
the tensenoununcountable
The verb tense used to express actions or states that have already happened.
Most regular verbs form the past by adding '-ed.'
She wrote the whole story in the past, recounting events long over.
UsageUsually the past, as in put a verb into the past; past tense is the fuller term.
Similarpreterite
Oppositepresent, future
Note
Grammarians use the noun as shorthand for the whole phrase past tense, which the grammatical adjective builds. Context decides how "in the past" is read. In a grammar lesson, a story written in the past has its verbs in that tense; anywhere else, the phrase means time gone by.
12
adjectivearchaic
Used after an expression of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.
That had been, what, three years past?
1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

Practice

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Origin

Middle English passen ("to pass, to go by"), which gives us the modern verb pass, had a past participle written passed or past, and that form is the source of this word.