The verb pass is used with several different meanings.
If you pass someone or something, you go past them.
If you pass something to someone or pass someone something, you take it in your hand and give it to them.
If you pass time in a particular way, you spend it doing something.
If you pass a test or exam, you are successful in it.
Be Careful!
Don't use 'pass' to say that someone has completed a test or exam, without mentioning the result. Say that they have taken it.
If someone does something from the beginning to the end of a period of time, you say that they spend the period of time doing it.
Be Careful!
Don't say that someone spends a period of time 'in doing', 'on doing', or 'to do' something. Don't say, for example, 'We spent the evening in talking about art'.
If someone is in a place from the beginning to the end of a period of time, you can say that they spend the time there.
You can say that someone spends a period of time in another person's company.
You don't usually say that you 'pass time' doing something. Don't say, for example, 'We passed the evening talking about art'.
However, if you do something to occupy yourself while you are waiting for something, you say that you do it to pass the time.
If you enjoy yourself while you are doing something, don't say that you 'pass' or 'spend' a good time. Say that you have a good time.
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| Noun | 1. | pass - (baseball) an advance to first base by a batter who receives four balls; "he worked the pitcher for a base on balls"accomplishment, achievement - the action of accomplishing something baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" |
| 2. | pass - (military) a written leave of absence; "he had a pass for three days" armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker" leave, leave of absence - the period of time during which you are absent from work or duty; "a ten day's leave to visit his mother" | |
| 3. | pass - (American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate; "the coach sent in a passing play on third and long"American football, American football game - a game played by two teams of 11 players on a rectangular field 100 yards long; teams try to get possession of the ball and advance it across the opponents goal line in a series of (running or passing) plays football play - (American football) a play by the offensive team aerial, forward pass - a pass to a receiver downfield from the passer lateral, lateral pass - a pass to a receiver upfield from the passer spot pass - a pass to a designated spot on the field; the receiver should arrive at that spot the same time the ball does | |
| 4. | pass - the location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks; "we got through the pass before it started to snow"location - a point or extent in space chain of mountains, mountain chain, mountain range, range of mountains, range, chain - a series of hills or mountains; "the valley was between two ranges of hills"; "the plains lay just beyond the mountain range" saddleback, saddle - a pass or ridge that slopes gently between two peaks (is shaped like a saddle) | |
| 5. | pass - any authorization to pass or go somewhere; "the pass to visit had a strict time limit"permission - approval to do something; "he asked permission to leave" safe-conduct, safeguard - a document or escort providing safe passage through a region especially in time of war | |
| 6. | pass - a document indicating permission to do something without restrictions; "the media representatives had special passes" permission - approval to do something; "he asked permission to leave" boarding card, boarding pass - a pass that allows you to board a ship or plane hall pass - written permission from a teacher for a student to be out the classroom and in the halls of the school ticket-of-leave - a permit formerly given to convicts allowing them to leave prison under specific restrictions | |
| 7. | pass - a flight or run by an aircraft over a target; "the plane turned to make a second pass" | |
| 8. | pass - a bad or difficult situation or state of affairs desperate straits, dire straits - a state of extreme distress situation - a complex or critical or unusual difficulty; "the dangerous situation developed suddenly"; "that's quite a situation"; "no human situation is simple" | |
| 9. | pass - a difficult juncture; "a pretty pass"; "matters came to a head yesterday" | |
| 10. | pass - one complete cycle of operations (as by a computer); "it was not possible to complete the computation in a single pass" computer, computing device, computing machine, data processor, electronic computer, information processing system - a machine for performing calculations automatically oscillation, cycle - a single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon; "a year constitutes a cycle of the seasons" | |
| 11. | pass - you advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent; "he had a bye in the first round" | |
| 12. | pass - a permit to enter or leave a military installation; "he had to show his pass in order to get out" armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; "the military machine is the same one we faced in 1991 but now it is weaker" | |
| 13. | pass - a complimentary ticket; "the star got passes for his family" ticket - a commercial document showing that the holder is entitled to something (as to ride on public transportation or to enter a public entertainment) | |
| 14. | pass - a usually brief attempt; "he took a crack at it"; "I gave it a whirl" | |
| 15. | pass - (sports) the act of throwing the ball to another member of your team; "the pass was fumbled"throw - the act of throwing (propelling something with a rapid movement of the arm and wrist); "the catcher made a good throw to second base" | |
| 16. | pass - success in satisfying a test or requirement; "his future depended on his passing that test"; "he got a pass in introductory chemistry" success - an attainment that is successful; "his success in the marathon was unexpected"; "his new play was a great success" | |
| Verb | 1. | pass - go across or through; "We passed the point where the police car had parked"; "A terrible thought went through his mind" break through, crack - pass through (a barrier); "Registrations cracked through the 30,000 mark in the county" squeak through, squeak by - escape; "She squeaked by me" go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast" transit - pass across (a sign or house of the zodiac) or pass across (the disk of a celestial body or the meridian of a place); "The comet will transit on September 11" cross, cut across, cut through, get over, traverse, pass over, get across, track, cover - travel across or pass over; "The caravan covered almost 100 miles each day" pass through, infiltrate - pass through an enemy line; in a military conflict run - cover by running; run a certain distance; "She ran 10 miles that day" move through, pass across, pass through, transit, pass over - make a passage or journey from one place to another; "The tourists moved through the town and bought up all the souvenirs;" "Some travelers pass through the desert" cut - pass directly and often in haste; "We cut through the neighbor's yard to get home sooner" crash - move violently as through a barrier; "The terrorists crashed the gate" muscle - make one's way by force; "He muscled his way into the office" negotiate, negociate - succeed in passing through, around, or over; "The hiker negociated the high mountain pass" lock - pass by means through a lock in a waterway work, make - proceed along a path; "work one's way through the crowd"; "make one's way into the forest" cycle - pass through a cycle; "This machine automatically cycles" pass over, skip, skip over, jump - bypass; "He skipped a row in the text and so the sentence was incomprehensible" cross, cut across, cut through, get over, traverse, pass over, get across, track, cover - travel across or pass over; "The caravan covered almost 100 miles each day" move through, pass across, pass through, transit, pass over - make a passage or journey from one place to another; "The tourists moved through the town and bought up all the souvenirs;" "Some travelers pass through the desert" |
| 2. | pass - move past; "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"go, locomote, move, travel - change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically; "How fast does your new car go?"; "We travelled from Rome to Naples by bus"; "The policemen went from door to door looking for the suspect"; "The soldiers moved towards the city in an attempt to take it before night fell"; "news travelled fast" skirt - pass around or about; move along the border; "The boat skirted the coast" run by - pass by while running; "We watched children were running by" fly by - pass by while flying; "An enemy plane flew by" | |
| 3. | pass - make laws, bills, etc. or bring into effect by legislation; "They passed the amendment"; "We cannot legislate how people spend their free time" | |
| 4. | pass - pass by; "three years elapsed" | |
| 5. | pass - place into the hands or custody of; "hand me the spoon, please"; "Turn the files over to me, please"; "He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers"give - leave with; give temporarily; "Can I give you my keys while I go in the pool?"; "Can I give you the children for the weekend?" transfer - cause to change ownership; "I transferred my stock holdings to my children" deal - give (a specific card) to a player; "He dealt me the Queen of Spades" fork out, fork over, fork up, hand over, turn in, deliver, render - to surrender someone or something to another; "the guard delivered the criminal to the police"; "render up the prisoners"; "render the town to the enemy"; "fork over the money" relinquish, resign, give up, release, free - part with a possession or right; "I am relinquishing my bedroom to the long-term house guest"; "resign a claim to the throne" entrust, intrust, confide, commit, trust - confer a trust upon; "The messenger was entrusted with the general's secret"; "I commit my soul to God" entrust, leave - put into the care or protection of someone; "He left the decision to his deputy"; "leave your child the nurse's care" communicate, pass along, put across, pass on, pass - transmit information ; "Please communicate this message to all employees"; "pass along the good news" pass on - give to or transfer possession of; "She passed the family jewels on to her daughter-in-law" | |
| 6. | pass - stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point; "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" be - occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere; "Where is my umbrella?" "The toolshed is in the back"; "What is behind this behavior?" come - extend or reach; "The water came up to my waist"; "The sleeves come to your knuckles" ray, radiate - extend or spread outward from a center or focus or inward towards a center; "spokes radiate from the hub of the wheel"; "This plants radiate spines in all directions" | |
| 7. | pass - travel past; "The sports car passed all the trucks" advance, march on, move on, progress, pass on, go on - move forward, also in the metaphorical sense; "Time marches on" get by - pass or move in front of; "Bride's Biscuit got by the other dogs to win the race" | |
| 8. | pass - come to pass; "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important" recrudesce, develop, break - happen; "Report the news as it develops"; "These political movements recrudesce from time to time" result - come about or follow as a consequence; "nothing will result from this meeting" intervene - occur between other event or between certain points of time; "the war intervened between the birth of her two children" transpire - come about, happen, or occur; "Several important events transpired last week" give - occur; "what gives?" operate - happen; "What is going on in the minds of the people?" supervene - take place as an additional or unexpected development come - come to pass; arrive, as in due course; "The first success came three days later"; "It came as a shock"; "Dawn comes early in June" fall - occur at a specified time or place; "Christmas falls on a Monday this year"; "The accent falls on the first syllable" anticipate - be a forerunner of or occur earlier than; "This composition anticipates Impressionism" develop - be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest; "The plot developed slowly"; roll around, come around - happen regularly; "Christmas rolled around again" bechance, befall, happen - happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance; "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These things befell" (Santayana) bechance, befall, betide - become of; happen to; "He promised that no harm would befall her"; "What has become of my children?" backfire, backlash, recoil - come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; "Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble" chance - be the case by chance; "I chanced to meet my old friend in the street" break - happen or take place; "Things have been breaking pretty well for us in the past few months" fall, shine, strike - touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly; "Light fell on her face"; "The sun shone on the fields"; "The light struck the golden necklace"; "A strange sound struck my ears" turn out - prove to be in the result or end; "It turns out that he was right" | |
| 9. | pass - go unchallenged; be approved; "The bill cleared the House" clear - pass an inspection or receive authorization; "clear customs" bring home the bacon, deliver the goods, succeed, win, come through - attain success or reach a desired goal; "The enterprise succeeded"; "We succeeded in getting tickets to the show"; "she struggled to overcome her handicap and won" | |
| 10. | pass - pass time in a specific way; "how are you spending your summer vacation?" soldier - serve as a soldier in the military slum - spend time at a lower socio-economic level than one's own, motivated by curiosity or desire for adventure; usage considered condescending and insensitive; "attending a motion picture show by the upper class was considered sluming in the early 20th century" weekend - spend the weekend while away, get through - spend or pass, as with boredom or in a pleasant manner; of time sojourn - spend a certain length of time; reside temporarily overwinter, winter - spend the winter; "We wintered on the Riviera"; "Shackleton's men overwintered on Elephant Island" summer - spend the summer; "We summered in Kashmir" | |
| 11. | pass - pass over, across, or through; "He ran his eyes over her body"; "She ran her fingers along the carved figurine"; "He drew her hair through his fingers" rub - move over something with pressure; "rub my hands"; "rub oil into her skin" string, thread, draw - thread on or as if on a string; "string pearls on a string"; "the child drew glass beads on a string"; "thread dried cranberries" thread - pass through or into; "thread tape"; "thread film" thread - pass a thread through; "thread a needle" disseminate, pass around, circulate, diffuse, broadcast, circularise, circularize, spread, disperse, propagate, distribute - cause to become widely known; "spread information"; "circulate a rumor"; "broadcast the news" | |
| 12. | pass - transmit information ; "Please communicate this message to all employees"; "pass along the good news" send a message - give or constitute a signal, not necessarily verbally; "The lack of good teachers sends a strong message to all parents in the community" relay - pass along; "Please relay the news to the villagers" get across, put over - communicate successfully; "I couldn't get across the message"; "He put over the idea very well" call for, request, bespeak, quest - express the need or desire for; ask for; "She requested an extra bed in her room"; "She called for room service" receipt, acknowledge - report the receipt of; "The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper" carry - pass on a communication; "The news was carried to every village in the province" message - send as a message; "She messaged the final report by fax" message - send a message to; "She messaged the committee" | |
| 13. | pass - disappear gradually; "The pain eventually passed off" | |
| 14. | pass - go successfully through a test or a selection process; "She passed the new Jersey Bar Exam and can practice law now"ace, breeze through, pass with flying colors, sail through, sweep through, nail - succeed at easily; "She sailed through her exams"; "You will pass with flying colors"; "She nailed her astrophysics course" bring home the bacon, deliver the goods, succeed, win, come through - attain success or reach a desired goal; "The enterprise succeeded"; "We succeeded in getting tickets to the show"; "she struggled to overcome her handicap and won" | |
| 15. | pass - be superior or better than some standard; "She exceeded our expectations"; "She topped her performance of last year" | |
| 16. | pass - accept or judge as acceptable; "The teacher passed the student although he was weak" pass judgment, evaluate, judge - form a critical opinion of; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"; "How do you evaluate this grant proposal?" "We shouldn't pass judgment on other people" fail - judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" | |
| 17. | pass - allow to go without comment or censure; "the insult passed as if unnoticed" | |
| 18. | pass - transfer to another; of rights or property; "Our house passed under his official control" change - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night" | |
| 19. | pass - pass into a specified state or condition; "He sank into nirvana" move - go or proceed from one point to another; "the debate moved from family values to the economy" | |
| 20. | pass - throw (a ball) to another player; "Smith passed" throw - propel through the air; "throw a frisbee" | |
| 21. | pass - be inherited by; "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" change hands, change owners - be transferred to another owner; "This restaurant changed hands twice last year" | |
| 22. | pass - cause to pass; "She passed around the plates"cycle - cause to go through a recurring sequence; "cycle the laundry in this washing program" pass off - cause to be circulated and accepted in a false character or identity; "She passed the glass off as diamonds"; "He passed himself off as a secret agent" pass through - cause to move through; "Pass a chemical through a solution" | |
| 23. | pass - grant authorization or clearance for; "Clear the manuscript for publication"; "The rock star never authorized this slanderous biography"countenance, permit, allow, let - consent to, give permission; "She permitted her son to visit her estranged husband"; "I won't let the police search her basement"; "I cannot allow you to see your exam" approbate - approve or sanction officially certificate - authorize by certificate declare - authorize payments of; "declare dividends" commission - charge with a task | |
| 24. | pass - pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; "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"croak, decease, die, drop dead, buy the farm, cash in one's chips, kick the bucket, pass away, perish, give-up the ghost, snuff it, pop off, expire, conk, exit, choke, go abort - cease development, die, and be aborted; "an aborting fetus" change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election" asphyxiate, stifle, suffocate - be asphyxiated; die from lack of oxygen; "The child suffocated under the pillow" drown - die from being submerged in water, getting water into the lungs, and asphyxiating; "The child drowned in the lake" predecease - die before; die earlier than; "She predeceased her husband" conk out, go bad, break down, die, fail, give out, give way, break, go - stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident" starve, famish - die of food deprivation; "The political prisoners starved to death"; "Many famished in the countryside during the drought" die - suffer or face the pain of death; "Martyrs may die every day for their faith" fall - die, as in battle or in a hunt; "Many soldiers fell at Verdun"; "Several deer have fallen to the same gun"; "The shooting victim fell dead" | |
| 25. | pass - eliminate from the body; "Pass a kidney stone" perspire, sudate, sweat - excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin; "Exercise makes one sweat" exudate, exude, ooze out, transude, ooze - release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities; "exude sweat through the pores" make water, micturate, pass water, pee, pee-pee, relieve oneself, spend a penny, take a leak, wee, wee-wee, urinate, piddle, puddle, make - eliminate urine; "Again, the cat had made on the expensive rug" urinate - pass after the manner of urine; "The sick men urinated blood" ca-ca, crap, defecate, take a crap, stool, make - have a bowel movement; "The dog had made in the flower beds" barf, be sick, puke, regorge, retch, sick, throw up, upchuck, vomit, vomit up, disgorge, cat, spue, spew, regurgitate, chuck, honk, purge, cast - eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth; "After drinking too much, the students vomited"; "He purged continuously"; "The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night" | |
| Adj. | 1. | pass - of advancing the ball by throwing it; "a team with a good passing attack"; "a pass play" football, football game - any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal running - of advancing the ball by running; "the team's running plays worked better than its pass plays" |