| 释义 |
▪ I. pass, n.1|pɑːs, -æ-|
Also 4 pas, pase, 5 paas, 5–6 passe.
[In ME. pas, paas, a. F. pas:—L. passus step, pace, track, trace, etc. Orig. the same word as pace; in later use often associated with pass v., and thus in some senses not easily separated from pass n.2, F. passe.]
I. Obs. senses: = pace, passus.
†1. Occasional spelling of pas, pace n.1 (in various senses), q.v.
a1300Cursor M. 10970, I and mi wijf on ald tas, Of barns er we passed þe pass [v.r. pas]. 1375Barbour Bruce vii. 203 Till hym thai ȝeid a full great pass. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 41 Fra þe kirke of þe sepulcre..ane aght score passez es þe temple Domini. 1615Chapman Odyss. ix. 734 A little pass Beyond our fore-deck from the fall there was.
†2. A passage (in a narrative or writing); a canto of a poem, a chapter, section, or division of a book; = pace n.1 12, passus.
c1350Will. Palerne 161 Þus passed is þe first pas of þis pris tale. a1400–50Alexander 2845 Here a passe endes. 1546Gardiner Declar. Art. Joye 27 So as in thys passe of saynt Paule, saynte Chrisostome is verye dylygente to note and conferme vnto vs. 1553Kennedy Compend. Tract. iii, It is to be notit of this pas of Scripture abone rehersit. 1573Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. II. 275 In quhilk Act, besyde mony utheris passis and claussis,..it is statute and ordanit [etc.]. 1633Sc. Acts Chas. I (1817) V. 152/1 Dispenssis for ever In all..heades articles claussis obleisments pointes passis..of the samyn. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. Prol. ⁋7 A summary view of the cardinal passes of the government of this Kingdom.
II. A passage.
3. A way or opening by which one passes through a region otherwise obstructed or impassable, or through any natural or artificial barrier. esp.
a. A narrow and difficult or dangerous passage through a mountainous region or over a mountain range; also (less usually) through a forest, marsh, bog, or other impassable ground.
In ME. applied to a road or passage in a wood, over a heath, etc., such as was exposed to ambush, robbery, etc.; in its later application prob. a re-adoption from mod.F. pas.
a1300Cursor M. 2519 Þan he broght þam til a pase [G. pas] Þat men cald in þ[at l]and temase [v.r. themas]. c1325Metr. Hom. 52 In our gat lis Satenas Wit his felawes, als thef in pas. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1239 Thefs and out⁓lawes,..Þat hald pases, and robbes and reves Men of þat þai have. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 300 Þe sexte is a path of pees: ȝe, þorw þe pas of altoun Pouerte myȝte passe withoute peril of robbynge. 1390Gower Conf. III. 208 Into the pas whanne he was falle, Thembuisschementz tobrieken alle. 1538St. Papers Hen. VIII, III. 7, I have cut divers pases, and made suche smothe wayes. 1680Morden Geog. Rect., Piedmont (1685) 205 Pignerol..a Commodious Pass from France to Italy. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 35 Having gone thro' a very rugged and uneven Pass. 1806Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 226 Glentilt; a pass in the Highlands of Athol, famous for..the dangerous road which runs through it. 1810Scott Lady of L. v. iii, The guide, abating of his pace, Led slowly through the pass's jaws. 1833Penny Cycl. I. 388/2 The chief pass of the Lepontian Alps is that of the St. Gothard... The height of the pass is 6890 feet. 1851Turner Dom. Archit. I. 106 The wooded pass of Alton on the borders of Surrey and Hampshire, which was not disafforested until the end of Henry's reign, was a favourite ambush for outlaws, who there awaited the merchants and their trains of sumpter-horses travelling to or from Winchester.
fig.c1500Melusine 31 But ones as he said he shuld passe the cruell paas of the deth. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 209 But Edith's eager fancy hurried with him Snatch'd thro' the perilous passes of his life.
b. esp. in Mil. Such a passage viewed strategically as commanding the entrance into a country or place; hence, by extension, any place which commands or holds the key to such entrance. Also fig., and in various phrases, as to gain, hold, keep the pass. † pass of arms [F. pas d'armes]: see quot. 1727–41. to sell the pass: see sell v. 7 g.
1683Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 98 They would be able to keep their Pass and fence off all assault of Conviction. 1684Scanderbeg Rediv. v. 108 The City Mohilow on the Dniester, a place of great Importance, as being the pass into Moldavia. a1704T. Brown Sat. agst. Woman Wks. 1730 I. 56 Thus all the unguarded passes of his mind she'll try. 1727–41Chambers Cycl., Pass of arms, in chivalry, a place which the ancient knights undertook to defend, e.gr. a bridge, road, &c. which was not to be passed without fighting the person who kept it. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 165 ⁋2 The passes of the intellect are barred against her by prejudice and passion. 1774Chesterfield's Lett. I. xvii. 74 Horatius Cocles, who alone defended the pass of a bridge against the whole Tuscan army. 1838Thirlwall Greece V. 283 When Philip reached Thermopylæ, he found the pass strongly guarded.
c. More generally: A way by which to pass or get through; a passage, road, route. Also fig.
1608Chapman Byron's Trag. Plays 1873 II. 294 Let your Armie Have the directest passe, it shall goe safe. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. ix. §92 The force of both counties..should be drawn to Tiverton, and upon that pass, to fight with the rebels. 1689Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 617 The Danish horse..are ordered to march for Scotland, being the shortest passe for Ireland. 1787M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 395 Through the Sandusky and Scioto lies the most common pass from Canada to the Ohio and Mississippi. 1798Bloomfield Farmer's Boy, Spring 302 [He] Sees every pass secur'd, and fences whole.
fig.1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xvi. (1739) 84 The King and Council seemed to have the sole power..to open and shut the passes of Trade.
d. A passage across a river; a place at which a river can be crossed by ford, ferry, or, rarely a bridge. Now rare.
1649–50Cromwell Let. to Lenthall 15 Feb. in Carlyle, Desirous to gain a Pass over the Suir; where indeed we had none but by boat, or when the weather served. 1650Ibid. 2 Apr., By which means we have a good pass over the Barrow, and intercourse between Munster and Leinster. a1661Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 384 The royalists chiefest strength consisted in two passes they possessed over the river of Severn. 1718Rowe tr. Lucan i. 815 To guard the Passes of the German Rhine. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. iii. 55 The watch-tower of Peniel, which years afterwards guarded the passes of the Jordan.
e. A navigable channel, esp. at a river's mouth, or in a delta.
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 123 The next Morning, with only sending my Servant ashore to acquaint the Rendero, I quitted the Pass. 1704Addison Italy (1733) 56 Passes that lead to the City from the Adriatic. 1758Ann. Reg. 109 The greatest part [of the vessels] escaped by running into the pass of Toulinquet. 1817J. W. Heustis Phys. Observ. Topog. & Dis. Louisiana 23 The main branch of the Mississippi has three mouths, or, as they are called, passes. 1895J. Winsor Mississ. Basin 154 A fort was soon built at the Balize,..on the edge of the Gulf, but which to⁓day is nine miles up the pass.
f. Applied to other narrow passages: e.g. in a road or street.
a1710Pope Alley 2 A narrow pass there is with Houses low. 1712Steele Spect. No. 454 ⁋4 While he whipped up James-Street, we drove for King-Street, to save the Pass at St. Martin's Lane. Ibid. No. 498 ⁋2 Till he came to the Pass, which is a Military Term the Brothers of the Whip have given the Strait at St. Clement's Church. 1902Daily Chron. 16 Apr. 7/2 How Royal and Coronation processions got through the Pass is a secret which our London fore⁓fathers have taken to their graves.
g. A passage or alley in a church. Sc. dial.
1871W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xi. (1892) 68 He was going along the pass to shut the door. 1873Gilmour Pen-Flk. 51 (E.D.D.) William McLerie..steps noiselessly up the ‘pass’, asking kindly for each as he slips along.
h. A passage for fish over or past a weir.
1861Act 24 & 25 Vict. c. 109 §23 Any Proprietor of a Fishery with the written Consent of the Home Office may attach to every Dam..a Fish Pass, of such Form and Dimensions as the Home Office may approve. 1867Lond. Rev. 22 June 696/1 To restore our rivers to their former prolific condition, it is indispensable that salmon-passes should be provided. 1899Daily News 4 May 11/2 In 1863 a salmon pass or ladder was made at Wood Mill, with the result that fish were enabled to ascend into the non-tidal waters.
4. Mining. (See quots.)[May perh. belong to pass n.2] 1671Phil. Trans. VI. 2108 After the Ore is landed,..'tis brought..and unloaded at the head of the Pass (i.e. 2 or 3 bottom-boards with 2 side-boards sloping-wise) in which the Ore slides down into the Coffer. 1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II. s.v., A Frame of Boards consisting of 2 or 3 bottom Boards and two side ones set slope-wise, thro' which the Ore slides down into the Coffer of the Stamping-Mill, for the Tin-works, is called by the Workmen the Pass. 1881in Raymond Mining Gloss.
▪ II. pass, n.2|pɑːs, -æ-|
Forms: 4–7 passe, (6 pas), 7– pass.
[Partly a. F. passe, f. passer to pass; partly immed. from pass v. Not always clearly separable from pass n.1, with which, since 1600, and occasionally earlier, it has been identified in spelling.]
I.
1. a. An act or the fact of passing; passage.
[a1400–50Alexander 2978 Þe pepill of þe palais quen þai his passe [D. hym passe] saȝe, Rusches vp in a res rynnes in-to chambres. ]1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. Chor. 39 Charming the narrow seas To giue you gentle Passe. 1600W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 45 In the passe and repasse out of England into Fraunce. c1611Chapman Iliad iii. 242 Out of his ample breast, he gave his great voice pass. Ibid. iv. 406 He went, and safely had his pass Back to Asopus' flood. Ibid. xx. 422 One ear it enter'd, and made good his pass to th' other ear. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xx. (1739) 38 This privilege of Safe Pass being..ancient and fundamental,..resteth still in force. 1671Grew Anat. Plants ii. §31 The Sap moving in the Barque, towards the Pith, through the Insertions, thereinto obtains a pass. 1820J. Cleland Rise Glasgow 121 There are four or five hundred passes and repasses in the same period. 1844D. Welsh Serm. 186 How dread must be the pass from the unsubstantial fabric of this earthly state to those abodes. 1966B.B.C. Handbk. 53 Previously we had to snatch in a hit or miss fashion at ‘passes’ as Telstar or one of its cousins streaked from horizon to horizon. 1967Technology Week 23 Jan. 28/2 Primary function of the subsystem is to correct the flight trajectory to assure a close pass by Mars. 1968M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xvi. 153, I don't say it was impossible to spot, but.., short of an overhead pass by a very low-flying helicopter, I thought it would pass muster. 1974Nature 4 Jan. 24/1 The orbit is near-polar with the north-going passes on the nightside at about 2230 lt, and the south-going passes on the dayside at about 1030 lt. 1977Offshore Engineer Apr. 28/1 It is followed up by an external welder or ‘bug’, which completes a 3 mm weld thickness in one pass over wall thicknesses above 9· 6 mm.
b. Departure from life, death. Also fig.
a1645Featly in Fuller's Abel Rediv., Reynolds (1867) II. 238 Whose happy pass, agreeable to his godly life, God forbid that any should deplore. 1742Young Nt. Th. iii. 134 For Man you smile; Why not smile at him too? You share indeed His sudden Pass; but not his constant Pain. 1827Pollok Course T. iii, This pass of human thought, This wilderness of intellectual death.
c. Bridge. The act of declining to make a bid.
1923M. C. Work Auction Bridge of 1924 497 Business Pass, a pass which indicates to the partner, who has made an Information Double, that the existing declaration will be remunerative. 1927[see auction n. 2 c]. 1958Listener 25 Dec. 1094/3, I agree with West's opening pass and with his next bid of Two No Trumps. 1959Ibid. 15 Jan. 146/1 After two passes, South opened Three Spades. 1959Reese & Dormer Bridge Player's Dict. 165 West's double is for a take-out and East's pass is a penalty pass. 1977Times 14 May 12/7 Hands which were so freakish that an unorthodox pass was the only road to safety.
d. Computers. A passage of data through a computer for processing; a single cycle of reading, processing, and writing; the performance of a particular kind of operation on each in turn of a set of data.
1954Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery I. 151/1 A single pass of the data through the 702 may be enough to carry out..a statistical analysis. 1961Ibid. VIII. 46 Passes are continued until no item is exchanged during a given pass... This signals that all items have been sorted. 1968Amer. Documentation Jan. 78/1 During one pass all elements which have already been classed in a particular category are retrieved. A second retrieval pass is then made to retrieve all remaining elements which have headwords or definitions which match those of items retrieved on the first pass. 1968G. Emery Electronic Data Processing ii. 10 Figure 1.5 shows a single job, made up of three separate runs... Runs are sometimes subdivided further into separate passes—sorting runs are an example. 1975H. Lorin Sorting i. 6 A pass of Linear Selection involves selecting the element with the lowest key on the list to be sorted and placing it on a growing output list. Additional passes are made until the output list is complete.
†2. (?) Demeanour, ‘walk’; (?) course of action.
1555W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. xii. 269 To be honestly appareiled, and accordyngly to vse their passe and conuersacion. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 375 When I perceiue your grace, like powre diuine, Hath look'd vpon my passes.
†3. The fact of passing as approved; reputation, estimation; currency. Obs.
1598B. Jonson Ev. Man. in Hum. v. i. 442 Or that their slubberd lines haue currant passe, From the fat iudgements of the multitude. 1601Shakes. All's Well ii. v. 58, I do know him well, and common speech Giues him a worthy passe.
4. The passing of an examination; esp. in a university examination, the attainment of such a standard as satisfies the examiners without entitling the candidate to honours. Often attrib.: see 18.
1838Arnold Let. in Life & Corr. (1844) II. viii. 127 A pass little go, or even great go, is surely a ridiculous thing, as all that the University expects of a man after some twelve or fourteen years of schooling and lecturing. 1860M. Burrows (title) Pass and Class: an Oxford Guide-Book through the Courses of Literæ Humaniores, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Law and Modern History. 1874Burnand My time xxxvi. 388 Honours were out of the question, and a pass we most of us obtained. 1882J. Southward Pract. Print. (1884) 199 If, however, there are only three marks or less, there is ‘no pass’.
II. That in which the fact of passing is embodied; the condition to or through which anything passes.
†5. Event, issue; completion, accomplishment.
[1481: see 6 b.] 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. i. Socr. §93 n., 38 a, [He] shall easily bryng the same to suche ende, and to such passe and effecte, as he would dooe. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 287/2 God will bring all to good passe. c1600Shakes. Sonn. ciii, To no other passe my verses tend Then of your graces and your gifts to tell. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 11 Wee haue at the length, through the good hand of the Lord vpon vs, brought the worke to that passe that you see. 1649Milton Eikon. ix. 86 By this reckning his consents and his denials come all to one pass.
6. Phrases. (Now somewhat arch.)
(Here to pass is often regarded as infinitive of the vb.; but see quot. 1549 in a, 1542 in b, and cf. prec.)
a. to bring to pass (rarely † unto pass): to bring to accomplishment, fulfilment, or realization; to carry out; to accomplish, produce, bring about.
1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 1228 A tratyse he deuysid & browght it to pas, Callid Speculum Principis. 1530Tindale Gen. xli. 32 That the thynge is certanly prepared of God, and that God will shortly brynge it to passe. 1538Starkey England ii. ii. 195 Thys were a commyn remedy, yf hyt myght be brought to passe. 1539Bible (Great) Ps. xxxvii. 5 Commytte thy waye vnto the Lorde, and put thy trust in hym, & he shall brynge it to passe. 1549Latimer 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI B viij b, Many hath taken in hande to brynge manye thynges vnto passe [printed paste]. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta v. iii, Doe but bring this to passe which thou pretendest. a1634Chapman Alphonsus Plays 1873 III. 225 Huge wonders will Alphonsus bring to pass. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxix. 169 They [faith and sanctity] are not Miracles, but brought to passe by education.
b. to come to pass: to come to the event or issue; to be carried out, accomplished, or realized; to turn out in the event, to eventuate; to issue, come about. Also, † to go to pass. † to come well to (our) pass, to come evil to pass, to turn out well (for us), to turn out ill.
1481Caxton Reynard xl. (Arb.) 108 The wulf..threw the foxe al plat vnder hym, whiche cam hym euyl to passe. [Leeu's text, 1479, xli, dat hem seer misuiel]. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 2134 Magn. I am Magnyfycence, that somtyme thy mayster was. Lyb. What, is the worlde thus come to passe? 1526Tindale John xiii. 19 Nowe tell I you before it come: that when yt is come to passe, ye myght beleve that I am he. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxvi. 226 Alas! why dyd not Huon knowe his entente? if he had, the mater had not gone so to passe. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 336 ‘A man that fleeth will renewe battaill again’ is a prouerbiall verse..by whiche we are warned not..to be brought in despaire, if some thyng have not well come to our passe. 1542― in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 2 If it had succeded and cum to passe accordyng to my request. 1611Bible Num. xi. 23 Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass vnto thee [Coverd. shall be fulfilled in dede], or not. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §5 When therefore any Prophets did foretell things..and those things did not come to pass, it was a certain evidence of a false Prophet. 1887Lecky Eng. in 18th C. VI. 121 If the projects foreshadowed by De Maulde had come to pass.
c. quasi-impers., with it, and subord. clause. To come to be the fact, to come about, to turn out, to happen (esp. in Scriptural lang.).
1526Tindale Matt. xi. 1 And it came to passe when Iesus had ended his preceptes..he departed thence. 1611Bible Gen. xxii. i. 1628Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 49 After this it came to pass that the Athenians and their confederates fought against the Medes. 1712Addison Spect. No. 418 ⁋3 But how comes it to pass, that we should take delight in being terrified or dejected by a Description. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 44 It comes to pass, that those places only, which are situated in the point of divergence..experience two tides a day.
7. a. A position or situation in the course of any affair; esp. a position, qualified in some way; a critical position, a juncture, a predicament. Also phr. (to come to) a pretty pass, (to reach) a regrettable state of affairs.
Cf. F. être en belle passe, dans une mauvaise passe, etc.: see Littré, Passe 5. But in Eng. app. sometimes associated with pass n.1 as if a fig. use of sense 3 a.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 58 Yet all thynges lyke to come to suche a passe. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 49 b, The worlde is come to this passe, that it counteth anie thing to bee lawfull which is delightfull. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. iii. 14 Him seemed fit that wounded Knight To visite, after this nights perillous passe. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 124 Lord let me neuer haue a cause to sigh, Till I be brought to such a sillie passe. 1610R. Abbot Old Way 27 To that desperate passe they are brought by the writings of the authors. 1732Law Serious C. iv. (ed. 2) 66 To such a pass are we now come. 1822Shelley Triumph Life 302 How and by what paths I have been brought To this dread pass. 1833H. Martineau Fr. Wines & Pol. vi. 98 Where is the patriotism of bringing things to this pass? 1842[see pretty a. 3 c]. 1843Dickens Mart. Chuz. (1844) xiv. 178, I need be departing, with all speed, for another country; for I have come to a pretty pass in this! 1876H. Melville Clarel II. iv. xvi. 501 ‘Was ever Saracen so bold!’ ‘Well, things have come to pretty pass—The mysteries slobbered by an ass!’ 1894C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 9 Neglecting, at this critical pass, to secure the maritime approaches to his realm. 1909Dialect Notes III. 359 Pretty pass,..a peculiar or astounding situation, as abnormal condition: used in derogatory sense. 1955Times 5 Aug. 10/4 Things, one felt, must have reached a pretty pass if the big banks, or any one of the big banks, had run into the same squalid staffing problems as the National Coal Board or the chain groceries. 1970Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable (rev. ed.) 808/1 A pretty pass, a difficult or deplorable state of affairs.
†b. to pass. (?) To (proper) position; in position. [Cf. Du. te passe. But see well to pass.]
c1595Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 58 Her ordinance lyinge well to pass, shee went as upright as a church. 1644Nye Gunnery ii. (1670) 5 If the first shot had struck under the Mark, then bring the Peece in all points as before to passe.
III. Permission or authorization to pass.
8. a. ‘Permission to go or come anywhere’ (J.); esp. a written permission to pass into, out of, or through a country or place, or between places within a country; a passport; also, a document authorizing the holder to pass, e.g. through the lines of an army; authorization or leave to pass.
1591Spenser M. Hubberd 936 He cast to leave The Court, not asking any passe or leave. 1598Hakluyt Voy. I. 472 They shall haue a letter of passe giuen vnto them. a1604Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 120 To give him Passe to seek adventures in some forraigne country. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. §44 He had given passes to many obscure persons, to go into and return out of that kingdom. 1667Pepys Diary 3 Apr., The Dutch have ordered a passe to be sent for our Commissioners. 1722De Foe Plague (1754) 9 To get Passes and Certificates of Health..for, without these, there was no being admitted to pass thro' the Towns. 1798Nelson Let. 27 Oct. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) III. 163, I am much displeased that you should grant Passes to the Ships of any Power with whom we are at War. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Pass, or Passport, a permission granted by any state to a vessel, to navigate in some particular sea without molestation. 1900[see 18 a].
b. Mil. (See quots.)
1617Moryson Itin. ii. 253 No souldier should bee discharged but by Passe from the Lord Deputie, Principall Gouernour, or chiefe Commanders. 1853Stocqueler Mil. Encycl., Pass,..also a certificate of leave of absence to a soldier for a short period. 1887Times 28 Sept. 7/3 Passes to remain out after hours for well-conducted soldiers. 1919[see leaf n.2]. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake iii. 507 Such my billet. Buy a barrack pass. 1955‘N. Shute’ Requiem for Wren iii. 67 Before she had been a year at Ford Janet came to look forward to her next pass with something close to apprehension. 1955[see bind v. 23].
†c. An order passing a pauper to his or her parish; ‘an order by which vagrants or impotent persons are sent to their place of abode’ (J.). Obs.
1646–7in Swayne Sarum Church-w. Acc. (1896) 325 Pore woman traveling from Ireland by passe, 4d. 1743–4Act 17 Geo. II, c. 5 Incorrigible rogues..who being apprehended..refuse to go before a magistrate, or to be examined on oath, or to be conveyed by a pass. 1786Pilton Churchw. Acc. in Notes & Gleanings (Exeter) II. 37/2 Paid a woman that had a Pass to Wexford in Ireland 0s. 6d.
d. A document or ticket authorizing the holder to travel free on a railway, etc. Usually free pass.
e. A ticket or order giving free admission to a theatre or the like.
1838Actors by Daylight I. 141 Give the Mounseer a pass to the pit. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Pass..a free journey-ticket on a railway; an unpaid admission to a place of amusement. 1871M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. II. ix. 270 He has..railway-passes. 1894[see free a. 32]. 1944J. W. Krutch Samuel Johnson (1945) viii. 210 Johnson..complained that Garrick had just refused him a pass to the theater for Miss Williams because..he saw no reason why he should give away a ticket to what he knew was going to be a full house. 1961Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 250 Pass, a permit to admit a person into a theatre without a ticket. British: complimentary ticket. 1977Times 22 Apr. 11/1 Forging free passes to movie theatres.
f. In South Africa and (formerly in) Rhodesia, a document issued to non-white residents (now usu. one which it is obligatory for them to carry), authorizing and regulating their movement and residence in particular areas.
Pass laws were repealed in S. Africa in 1986.
1828J. Philip Res. S. Afr. I. 167 Among the many hardships to which the Hottentot is subject by this proclamation, one must advert to the Law of Passes, contained in the 16th article. 1899W. J. Knox-Little Sk. & Stud. S. Afr. ii. i. 127 It was required that he [sc. a Hottentot] should have..a ‘pass’ or certificate when moving from place to place, and should be fined or punished as a vagrant if unable, when required, to produce this pass. 1901Natives S. Afr. x. 165 Every native on entering a district, being in possession of the pass required by the existing Pass Law, was directed to repair to the district office and get a pass and badge. 1902in Statute Law of Transvaal (1910) II. 871 Any native found in any street public place or thoroughfare..between the hours of nine pm. and four am. without a written pass or certificate.. shall be liable to a fine. 1914in Statute Law of S. Rhodesia (1923) II. 273 Every native shall be bound, on demand made by any Pass Officer, to state all the particulars required to be entered upon his pass or certificate. 1914in Ibid. (1939) II. 286 To amend and consolidate the law relating to native's passes. Ibid., 287 Every male native within the Colony over the apparent age of fourteen years shall register himself at the proper pass office. 1928R. R. R. Dhlomo Afr. Tragedy 21 There was no necessity for him to go to the Pass Office and spend half a day there waiting for his pass to be endorsed. 1941C. W. de Kiewiet Hist. S. Afr. 45 They were naturally inclined to arrest the Hottentot as a vagabond and compel him to take service or achieve the same result by refusing him the pass or certificate without which he could not move from one district to another. 1948Rep. Native Laws Comm. 1946–48 (Dept. Native Affairs, S. Afr.) 26/1 It is not always clear whether a particular document can rightly be described as a pass or not. Neither from European nor from Native witnesses did we receive a satisfactory definition, but we think it would be correct to say that in the mind of the Natives a document is a pass, to which they object, if it is a document—(a) which is not carried by all races, but only by people of a particular race; and which either (b) is connected with restriction of the freedom of movement of the person concerned; or (c) must at all times be carried by the person concerned on his body, since the law lays the obligation on him of producing it on demand to the police and certain other officials and the mere failure to produce it is by itself a punishable offence. 1949Handbk. Race Relations S. Afr. 275 The tendency was to equate a pass with a document controlling movement. Clearly however, the pass has acquired a wider connotation to-day. 1952Statutes Union S. Afr. 1013 To repeal the laws relating to the carrying of passes by natives; to provide for the issue of reference books to natives. 1956D. Jacobson Dance in Sun 51 I've been to the police and told them to chase him away, but they looked at his passes and said his passes were in order. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 327 All adults were entitled to vote, provided that they had registered and that this fact had been recorded on their identity cards or ‘passes’. 1968R. Griffiths Man of River 137 But they must! At all times they must carry their passes! 1971T. Sharpe Riotous Assembly ii. 10 The milk delivery boy was charged with being out without a Pass. 1972P. Driscoll Wilby Conspiracy (1973) iii. 40 The black man shuffled forward, reaching automatically for his pass, and the constable paged through the green booklet. 1977Times 5 Nov. 15/1 The tribal homelands are henceforth to issue travel documents to their nationals, a more dignified card of identity. But these, even if upgraded to passport status upon independence, will serve the police and the Ministry of Bantu Affairs as well as the passes. Possession of one will be needed to apply for a job in white South Africa.
IV. The causing of something to pass.
9. a. Fencing. The act of passing the sword or rapier; a lunge, a thrust; a round or bout of fencing.
1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. i. 233 In these times you stand on distance: your Passes, Stoccado's, and I know not what. 1602― Ham. v. ii. 173 In a dozen passes between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits. 1678Otway Friendship in F. i. i, I put by his Pass, clos'd with him and threw up his Heel's. 1692Sir W. Hope Fencing Master (ed. 2) 79 A Pass is that with which a man goeth quite by, and behind his adversary; the second kind which is called a Pass (but improperly) is that with which a Man goeth only close to his Adversary, and commandeth his Sword. 1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. vii. M.'s Wks. (1851) 173 You lie every where so open to blows, that if any one were..to make a Pass at any part of you, he could hardly miss. 1752Young Brothers iv. i, Thy bloody pass cleave thro' thy brother's breast. 1840Thackeray Catherine vi, He drew his..sword and made a pass at Mr. Sicklop.
†b. fig. A sally of wit; a witty thrust or stroke: in phrases pass of pate, wit. Obs.
1610Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 244 Steale by line and leuell is an excellent passe of pate. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. viii. (1869) 173 This is a curious pass of wit.
10. The manipulation of a juggler; the transference or changing of the position of anything by sleight of hand, or the like; a trick.
to make the pass (in card tricks), to alter the position of the cards in the pack, by dexterously bringing the lower cards to the top, or shifting the top or bottom card.
1599Minsheu Span. Dict., Passa, as juego de Passa, iuglers playing passe and repasse. 1814Byron Diary 8 Apr., He will yet play them a pass. c1821Philosoph. Recreations 97 No. 151 How to make the Pass [i.e. with cards—a full description]. 1836Marryat Japhet xi, For hours and hours was I employed by his directions in what is called ‘making the pass’ with a pack of cards, as almost all tricks on cards depend upon your dexterity in this manœuvre. 1859Wraxall tr. R. Houdin iv. 38 He performed the most difficult ‘passes’ with a coolness no one would expect him to possess. 1861Boy's Own Conj. Bk. 94 As..a friend is not always present who can perform the pass, I will endeavour to describe it. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 346/1 To make the Pass (sauter la coupe).
11. a. A passing of the hands over or along anything; manipulation; esp. in Mesmerism.
1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxiii, Alexis, after a few passes from Dr. Elliotson, despises pain, reads with the back of his head. 1851H. Mayo Pop. Superstit. (ed. 2) 180 The employment of mesmeric passes..as a local means of tranquillising the nervous sensibility. 1874Carpenter Mental Phys. ii. xiv. (1879) 553 The delusion was kept up by a frequent recourse to ‘passes’, resembling those of the Mesmerists.
b. An amorous advance, esp. in phr. to make a pass at (someone). colloq.
1928J. P. McEvoy Show Girl 27 Almost all parties look alike at the takeoff—a few high balls, a few dunces, and the boys getting merry and making preliminary passes. 1936D. Parker Not so Deep as a Well 70 Men seldom make passes At girls who wear glasses. 1938G. Greene Brighton Rock i. i. 21 He made no immediate pass at Ida in the taxi. 1939C. R. Cooper Designs in Scarlet ii. 14 The girl sipped idly at her drink, swallowing with it her disgust that she should be forced to stick with a deado when she might be making a pass at a ‘gentleman’. 1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags 173 What are you doing now besides making passes at Susie? 1944Auden For Time Being ii. 31 His progress from outrage to outrage would not relent before the gross climax of His making, horror unspeakable, a pass at her virgin self. 1945J. Steinbeck Cannery Row xxix. 190, I been over there. He never made a pass at me. 1952W. Plomer Museum Pieces ix. 68 Since my visit to the painting room he had almost completely hidden from me the feelings which seemed to have driven him to make a pass at me. 1957J. Braine Room at Top vii. 70 A little gentle flirtation, even a discreet sort of pass, would have changed her attitude entirely. 1959‘D. Buckingham’ Wind Tunnel xv. 127 Male passes were nothing new to Janet. 1972J. Gores Dead Skip (1973) xiii. 89 As for making a pass at her, he'd as soon have made one at his five-year-old daughter. Sex was for home. 1973‘D. Shannon’ No Holiday for Crime (1974) iv. 58 If he started to get fresh, threw a pass, she could just walk off. 1978D. Devine Sunk without Trace ii. 23 He cast round for ulterior motives. Was she perhaps making a pass at him?
12. a. Football, Lacrosse, Hockey, etc. A transference of the ball by one of the players to another on his own side.
1891Lock to Lock Times 24 Oct. 16/2 L. who took the ball well from a difficult pass by C. secured a try after a capital run. 1894Badminton Libr., Football (Assoc.) 109 Inside forwards..must, like the outsides, be on the look-out for making a pass to the opposite wing. Ibid. (Rugby) 332 Some of the leading clubs soon discovered that for a ‘pass’ to be accurate it must be short. 1944N. Mailer Calculus at Heaven in E. Seaver Cross-Section 345 Sergeant! Did I ever tellya how I got to throw a pass in the Red Bank game one year? 1961J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 319 Pass (baseball, softball), base on balls. 1970Washington Post 30 Sept. D4/3 Shugars..has been very accurate this year, completing 37 of 78 passes for 376 yards and a 47 per cent average. 1972N.Y. Times 4 June 5/2 He has been throwing passes in casual workouts.
b. In real tennis, a service which drops in the pass-court; in lawn tennis, a shot which succeeds in passing the racket of an opponent.
1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 179/2 A pass counts for nothing but annuls a previous fault. 1900in A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 614 A ‘pass’ shall not neutralise a previous fault. 1911Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 627/2 ‘Pass’: a service in which the ball drops beyond the passline; the service in this case does not count, but a ‘pass’ does not annul a previous fault, as was once the case. 1961F. C. Avis Sportsman's Gloss. 259/2 Pass..Passing shot. 1962Times 27 Apr. 4/1 A mixture of lobs and angled passes. 1975Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 825/1 The remainder of the winning area is the ‘pass court’ and, if the ball falls there, ‘pass’ is called and a let played. 1978Times 4 July 19/4 Newcombe actually reached set point with a glorious backhand cross-court pass off second service.
13. In a rolling-mill: ‘A single passage of a plate or bar between the rolls’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875).
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Pass..When the bar passes ‘on the flat’ it is called a flatting-pass; if ‘on the edge’, an edging-pass. 1939[see lap n.3 2 e]. 1967A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xxii. 439 For the first few passes the draught (i.e. reduction of cross-section) is light... Reductions of 10–50 per cent per pass are then used.
14. In full, food-pass. Among certain birds of prey, the habit of passing food from one bird to another while in flight.
1931D. Nethersole-Thompson in Brit. Birds XXV. 147 During the early stages of incubation the food ‘pass’ of the Hobbies may be occasionally witnessed. 1940H. F. Witherby et al. Handbk. Brit. Birds III. 19 During this period [of incubation] male feeds hen both by food pass and by calling hen off to adjoining perch. 1948B. H. Ryves Bird Life in Cornwall vi. 93 The aerial ‘pass’ of a kill is spectacular. 1956D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles V. 182 Excellent views of the food-pass of the cock to the hen [marsh harrier] were also witnessed. Ibid. 195 Some account of the serious business of the ‘pass’ will be given. 1970E. Hosking Eye for Bird xi. 157 They [sc. a pair of hobbies] rolled over, swung up their feet and passed food from one to the other. It is the speed and precise flight control which makes the hobby's food-pass so exhilarating to watch.
V.
†15. An iron ring through which the ball was driven in the game of pall-mall. [F. passe.]
1611Cotgr., Leve, a Mallet..wherewith the bowle is raysed, and cast through the Passe at Palemaille. 1727Bailey vol. II. s.v. Mall, The Ball is struck..so as to run through an iron Arch at the End of a long Alley..This Arch is call'd the Pass.
16. The aperture formed by the corresponding grooves in a rolling-mill.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1635/1 The pass is so formed as to give the required shape to the metal rolled therethrough. 1930Engineering 12 Dec. 759/2 The drawing of the strip through the pass of the rolls. 1939[see lap n.3 2 e]. 1960D. J. O. Brandt Manuf. Iron & Steel (ed. 2) xxxiii. 249 The most commonly used passes in bar and rod rolling are the diamond, the diagonal, the oval, and to finish with, the round.
17. More fully pass-hemp: the third quality of Russian hemp, next to outshot.
1744–50W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. V. iii. 87 There is another Sort from Russia,..called Pass-hemp, which is a very shaggy, coarse, cheap Sort, used altogether for Roping. 1812[see outshot 3]. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Pass, a name for the third classification or quality of Russian hemp. 1886W. A. Harris Techn. Dict. Fire-Insurance, Pass-hemp.
VI.
18. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib.: (a) relating to the passing of an examination (sense 4), pass class, pass coach, pass degree, pass divinity, pass examination, pass mark, pass moderations (colloq. pass mods), pass rate, pass schools, etc.; (b) relating to the issue of passes (sense 8), pass-form, pass inspector, pass law, pass office, pass regulation, pass system, pass warrant, etc.; pass-bearing adj.
a.1838[see 4]. 1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green xii, He had gone to a farewell pass-party. 1861Mill Repr. Govt. xiv. 259 A mere pass examination never, in the long run, does more than exclude absolute dunces. 1868M. Pattison Academ. Organiz. vi. §2. 236 When a pass-examination was instituted. Ibid. 238 The university should cease the pass-business altogether. Ibid. 239 It is not possible, nor is it proposed, that such a measure as the abolition of the pass-degree should be taken at once. 1883Times 1 June 4 Some pass-examiner..set a continuity of traps.. whereby the unwary examinee was brought to grief. 1890Spectator 5 Apr., We quite see the use of a pass examination in health for all appointments, because the State does not want to be burdened with invalids. 1891Daily News 8 Dec. 3/2 The pass-schools are once more upon us, and the pass-men in their white ties monopolize the High-street after breakfast and lunch. 1908E. M. Sneyd-Kynnersley H.M.I. xi. 110 He had taken refuge in a Hall. There he exhausted the pass⁓coaches of Oxford. 1911W. Owen Let. Sept. (1967) 79 Have I passed? I do think so! even in Arith. & Geometry. At least I have done enough right to score pass marks. 1912Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1911 219 The opinion has been expressed that Pass Mods. is not a bad thing. 1915W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xxvi. 109 When he only got a pass degree his friends were astonished. 1919Mencken Amer. Lang. 105 His [sc. an English university man's] daily speech is full of terms unintelligible to an American student, for example, wrangler, tripos, head, pass-degree and don. 1948M. Laski Tory Heaven i. 5 After reading for a Pass Degree at Oxford, James had..been sent to..an uncle's rubber⁓plantation in Malaya. 1953K. Amis Lucky Jim viii. 82 Of course, their problems down there are very different... The Pass classes in particular. 1957Economist 12 Oct. 104/1 It is often assumed that there is a common pass mark for the whole of each county, but there can hardly be that until the school bus is replaced by each child's own jet propelled transport. 1969G. Smith in Lett. Aldous Huxley 11, 1913... October: H. enters Balliol and prepares for Pass Moderations. 1973Morning Star 18 May 4/2 In the schools in the countryside the average pass rate was more than 95 per cent. 1976Daily Mail (Hull) 16 Dec., Their pass rate of 79 per cent from 77 entries was better than most he had seen. 1977P. Strevens New Orientations Teaching Eng. ii. 34 In many countries..the effective criterion for success in an English-language course has been to achieve the pass mark in an examination set and marked in Britain.
b.1859Queenstown Free Press 2 Mar. (Pettman), Upon more occasions than one I have endeavoured to bring to the notice of the public the evils of the Pass system. 1900Daily News 23 Feb. 6/4 He also bribed the ‘pass inspectors’, whose business it was to see natives had proper passes. 1928Pass office [see sense 8 f above]. 1936New Statesman 11 July 46/1, I badly wanted to know whether God approved of the colour bar and the Pass system for natives. 1939J. S. Marais Cape Coloured People p. viii, The pass system as applied to the Coloured north of the Orange, was abolished by the Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923. 1943E. H. Brookes Bantu in S. Afr. Life v. 11 The provisions of the Act under which Industrial Councils are formed do not apply to ‘pass-bearing Natives’. 1948Rep. Native Laws Comm. 1946–48 (Dept. Native Affairs, S. Afr.) 66/2 Any Native entering the Province must proceed to the nearest Pass Office (or to the nearest Pass Office to his destination if entering by rail) and take out an Inward Pass. Ibid. 33/1 If in course of time, as matters develop, the pass regulations fall into entire disuse, the laws authorising their application may well disappear from the statute book. 1953P. Abrahams Return to Goli iv. ii. 129 He was soon picked up outside the Pass Office by one of the touts or ‘runners’ who look out for unemployed Africans. 1972P. Driscoll Wilby Conspiracy (1973) vi. 74 A national campaign among Africans against the pass system.
b. Special combs.: passband, a frequency band within which signals are transmitted by a filter without attenuation; † pass-bank, pass-boat, see quots.; pass-box, a box for transferring cartridges from the magazine to the guns on the field; pass-burner Southern Afr., an African who burns his pass in protest against the pass laws; hence pass-burning vbl. n.; pass check, a ticket of admission to a place of entertainment allowing the holder to withdraw and re-enter (Simmonds Dict. Trade 1858); pass court Real Tennis (see quots.); pass door, a door of communication between the stage and the house in theatres; pass duty, a duty levied on goods entering a territory; † pass-gilt (Sc.), ‘current money’; pass-hemp, see sense 17; pass-holder, one who holds a ‘pass’ to a theatre, etc. (Simmonds 1858); pass lamp, a lamp on a motor vehicle for use in fog; pass law Southern Afr., a law regulating the carrying of passes (see sense 8 f above); pass light = pass lamp; so pass-lighting; pass line Real Tennis, the line between the pass-court and the service court; pass-note, ‘a certificate from an employer that the bearer has regularly left his last employment’ (Webster Suppl. 1879); pass pawn, a passed pawn; † pass-penny, the obolus placed by the ancient Greeks on the tongue of the dead to pay their fare over the Styx; pass play Amer. Football, a sequence of passes between members of the same team; pass raid, in South Africa, a raid on African premises by the white authorities to check that passes are in order; pass-shooting (U.S.), the shooting of wild ducks as they pass to and from the feeding-grounds in autumn; pass-ticket, a ticket empowering the holder to pass in (or out); pass-warrant, see quot; pass-woman, a woman-student who passes an examination without honours: cf. passman. Also pass-master.
1922G. A. Campbell in Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. Nov. 15 The *pass band and stop band characteristics of wave⁓filters are concretely illustrated..by the curves of Figs. 8–13. Ibid. 26 Each state holds for one or more continuous bands of frequencies; these bands have been distinguished as stop bands and pass bands. 1965Wireless World Sept. 459/1 The low-frequency passband of the filter. 1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers v. 102 A BBC station at {pm}75kHz deviation with a modulation frequency of 15kHz..would call for a passband of about 180kHz for the best results. 1970Nature 12 Dec. 1069/2 A 30 Å passband Faby–Perot type filter was used to isolate the line.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Pass-bank, the Stock or Fund thereto belonging [i.e. to the game of passage]; also the playing Place Cut out in the Ground almost Cock-pit waies. 1721in Bailey.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Pass-boat, a broad, flat-bottomed boat. A flat or punt.
1953P. Abrahams Return to Goli vi. i. 190 Strikers and *pass-burners were jailed and shot down in large numbers.
1961Economist 4 Nov. 415/1, 2,072 [Northern Rhodesians] were convicted on charges of stoning, *pass-burning, arson, road-blocking, and the like.
1844J. Cowell 30 Yrs. among Players i. xi. 27 We agreed to pay the extra three and sixpence and go into the boxes; but as to obtaining a *pass check, it was impossible. 1858G. A. Sala Twice round Clock in Welcome Guest 22 May 60/1 There is a theatrical pass-check, and the thumb of a white kid glove, very dirty, lying..at the back [of the hansom]. 1961Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 250 Pass check, a re-admission pass for a spectator who leaves the theatre temporarily. British: pass-out check.
1900G. E. A. Ross in A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 608 The *pass-court is the area enclosed by the pass-line, the service-line, the end-wall and the main-wall. 1961J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 320 Pass court (court tennis)—the part of the floor on the hazard side that lies between the main wall, the grille wall, the pass line (but not including the pass line), and the service line (including the service line). 1975Pass court [see sense 12 b above].
1856Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 431 The wall dividing the front from the stage still remained, and the iron *pass-doors stood ajar. 1937N. Coward Present Indicative viii. 313 At the final curtain there was booing... I dashed through the pass door and on to the stage as quickly as I could. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake i. 146 The little passdoor, I go you before, so, and you're at my apron stage. 1950‘J. Tey’ To love & be Wise xviii. 233 Marta..came down to the edge of the stage... ‘Come through the pass door, will you?’ 1970A. Morice Death in Grand Manor x. 103 Be an angel, Annie, and show Miss Crichton to the pass door.
1909Daily Chron. 20 Feb. 4/4 Opium..is grown in the Native States, the Government levying a heavy *pass duty on its entrance to British territory.
1657Records of Elgin (New Spald. Cl.) I. 300 Money not *pasguilt. The officers are ordained..to advertise the inhabitants not to receive this newe brought in base couper coyne. 1659W. Guthrie Chr. Gt. Interest ii. (1724) 169 His Prayers, his other Service done to God, his Alms-deeds, &c. are not Pass-gilt before God, since they came not from a right Principle in his Heart..his sacrifices have been an abomination.
1948Times 14 Jan. 2/5 It has been found that the low-mounted *passlamp is especially liable to cause dazzle.
1897A. Milner Let. 12 Aug. in C. Headlam Milner Papers (1931) I. vi. 194 If they do exempt Cape Boys from the degrading provisions of the *Pass Law. 1901Pass law [see sense 8 f above]. 1921Outward Bound May 46/2 Soon after that, all my own boys cleared one night... I would not report them, that was not my way, let the pass-law say what it pleased. I don't hold with pass-law slavery. 1948Rep. Native Laws Comm. 1946–48 (Dept. Native Affairs, S. Afr.) 26/1 They regard even the certificates of exemption, which are issued to them as evidence of exemption from the pass laws, as passes; for only Natives require them, and they must be produced at any time on demand by an authorised official. 1956T. Huddleston Naught for your Comfort ii. 30 Another consequence of the pass laws—a consequence known to every intelligent South African at all interested in penal reform—is that it leads to an absolute contempt for the law. 1960Observer 27 Mar. 16/4 Throughout South Africa's history, the pass laws have caused more bitter resentment than any other grievance. 1971Rand Daily Mail 4 Dec. 1/1 It is where family life—the very basis of stability in traditional African societies—is being devastated by the pass laws and other apartheid regulations. 1974A. Williams Gentleman Traitor xiii. 213 Two African youths had been arrested for breaking the Pass Laws. 1977Times 16 Feb. 8/3 Legislation tabled in Parliament [in South Africa] today proposes the doubling of fines for violations of the country's pass laws. 1977Time 2 May 22/3 The ‘pass laws’—which control the movement of blacks into white areas—cost South Africa no less than $130 million a year to administer.
1938Times 20 July 12/5 A rubber footrest for the clutch foot in which is the switch to cut out the head-lamps and put on a *pass-light. 1948Times 14 Jan. 2/5 Three-quarters of the cases of dazzle are caused by dipped headlights and pass lights. 1959Motor Manual (ed. 36) vi. 181 The so-called spotlight..provides a concentrated beam, but of more general use is the pass-light or fog-lamp, which is designed to throw a broad, flat beam with a fairly sharply defined top edge. 1965Priestley & Wisdom Good Driving ii. 21 Many cars are fitted with ‘fog’ or ‘pass’ lights.
1938Times 14 Oct. 11/1 Radio sets, permanent jacking systems, and an arrangement of *pass-lighting which conduces to safety are outstanding features in standardization this year.
1888Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 179/2 A ‘pass’ [is called] if the ball has gone beyond the *pass line. 1911Ibid. XXVI. 627/1 The pass-line is drawn 7 ft. 8 in. from the main wall. 1935Encycl. Sports 619/2 On the ‘hazard side’ of the court..is traced the ‘service line’..and at right angles to this again is the ‘pass line’. 1961J. S. Salak Dict. Amer. Sports 321 Pass line (court tennis)—the line on the floor nearest the grille and extending from the service line to the grille wall.
1908Daily Chron. 29 Sept. 1/6 Lasker has a *pass pawn, but..a draw appears probable.
1657W. Rand tr. Gassendi's Life Peiresc ii. 50 Whether the ægyptians also were wont to put a *Passe-penny in the mouth of the dead.
1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 11 July 32/5 Turek scored on a 71-yard *pass play with Joe Zuger. 1969Official Playing Rules Canad. Football 29 For interference on a forward pass play see Rule 6, Section 4. 1970Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 17/7 Eckman added Ticats' clinching touchdown a few minutes later when he shook off a blitzing B.C. lineman and ran seven yards on a broken pass play.
1958New Statesman 8 Nov. 619/3 ‘*Pass raids’ are so commonplace in Johannesburg that even few liberal whites experience any real shock when they see a group of 10 or 20 Africans under police guard on a street corner, waiting to become part of the more than a thousand of their kind who, every day of the year, spend at least a day in custody because their papers are not in order. 1971Rand Daily Mail 27 Mar. 1/1 To this is added perpetual insecurity, the harassment of pass raids and the miseries of life below the poverty datum line.
1877C. Hallock Sportsm. Gaz. 204 Another method is *pass shooting; that is, standing..in belts of woods, over which the birds fly when travelling in their afternoon flights to the roosting and feeding grounds.
1761Ann. Reg. 229 The friendship of Mr. Rolles, who had procured me a *pass ticket, as they call it, enabled me to be present both in the hall and the abbey.
1840Penny Cycl. XVIII. 401/2 Paupers who have no settlement must be maintained by the parish in which they happen to be, as casual poor, unless they were born in Scotland or Ireland, or in the islands of Man, Jersey, or Guernsey, in which case they are to be taken under a *pass-warrant of two justices to their own country.
1896Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 1/3 One of the resolutions..proposes that only women who have taken honours..shall be eligible for the degree, a diploma being offered to the ‘*passwoman’ in lieu thereof. 1900G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impressions 349 If there should ever be a large influx of pass-women of the same type as pass⁓men..difficulties of discipline will be greatly aggravated.
Add:[1.] e. Aeronaut. A short, sweeping passage made by an aircraft, esp. one of a series of such movements, as when diving to fire at a target or to drop a bomb. Also transf. of a bird, etc.
1943Sun (Baltimore) 3 Aug. 4 He followed him into a power dive after two Japanese planes, made one pass without any results and went into a cloud. 1956W. A. Heflin U.S. Air Force Dict. 375/2 Pass, a short tactical movement, usually in a dive, by a fighter aircraft, calculated to give opportunity for firing at a target. 1959F. D. Adams Aeronaut. Dict. 123/2 In ‘dragging’ a field..an airplane makes a pass. 1968M. Woodhouse Rock Baby xvi. 153, I don't say it was impossible to spot, but.., short of an overhead pass by a very low-flying helicopter, I thought it would pass muster. 1985Yeager & Janos Yeager (1986) 44 The bomber makes a low pass. 1987World Mag. Oct. 26/1 It shows amazing flying skill as it threads through a wood or copse to pursue any prey that escapes the first pass and will also chase and outfly birds in the open.
▪ III. † pass, n.3 Obs. rare.
Also 5 passe.
[ad. L. passum raisin-wine, made from dried grapes, neuter of passus spread out, (of fruit) spread out to dry, dried, pa. pple. of pandĕre to spread: cf. uvæ passæ raisins.]
Raisin-wine; also attrib. pass-wine. Now in L. form passum.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. xi. 491 Now passe is maad that Affryk vseth make Aforn vyndage. 1671Charente Lett. Customs Mauritania 37 They..are forc'd to make use of Pass-wine, or Raisin-wine, for they call Raisin of the sun Pass,.. it is a white Wine, but muddy. [1811Hooper Med. Dict., Passum, Raisin-wine. 1841Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 381 The passum was made from raisins.]
▪ IV. pass, v.|pɑːs, -æ-|
Forms: 3–5 passe(n, (3 passi, 3–5 -y, 4 paci, pasi, -ye, 4–5 passyn, pacyn), 3–7 passe, (4 pasce, 4–6 pas, pase, pace), 4– pass. pa. tense and pple. passed, past (now rarely as pa. tense); also 4 paced, pased, 4–6 Sc. passit; 3–5 ipassed, ipast, 4–6 ypassed, ypast.
[a. F. pass-er (11th c. in Littré, Hatz.-Darm.), a Com. Romanic vb.; in Pr. passar, Sp. pasar, It. passare:—late pop.L. *passāre (med.L. in Du Cange, with derivs. of 11th c.), f. pass-us step, pace, track (pass n.1). The primary signification was thus ‘to step, pace, walk’, but already in 11th c. OF. it had come to denote progression or moving on from place to place. Pass and pace are the same word, the forms having been in later times differentiated, and pace restricted to those senses which are akin to or derived from pace n., while pass has been retained for the other original senses and the newer ones developed from them.]
In Eng. pass has become the most general verb expressing onward motion; passing may consist in going, running, riding, flying, swimming, sailing, floating, gliding, or in being carried, drawn, driven, impelled, or moved on, in any way. In many cases the intrans. sense can be expressed by go, especially when construed with, or extended by, prepositions or adverbs expressing varieties of direction, etc.; but it can be used in many transferred senses in which go is inapplicable; e.g. to pass into a new state or condition, or to a new subject. It differs from move in expressing the effect rather than the action. Without any prepositional or adverbial extension, the original and intrans. use is now chiefly confined to senses 12 and 18, being otherwise less frequent than the derived trans. and causal uses in branches II and III.
As in other intrans. vbs. of motion (go, come, depart, etc.), the perfect of resultant condition had originally the auxiliary be (he is passed, they were passed): cf. sense 1, quot. c 1380, 1 b, 14.., 2, c 1400, etc. This was sometimes retained even when pass was transitive: cf. sense 34, quot. 1375; 38, quots. 14.., 1526, etc. Hence arose the later past prep., q.v.
I. Intransitive uses.
* To go, proceed, move onward.
1. a. To go on, move onward, proceed; to make one's way. Now usually with some preposition, adv., or advb. extension = go (with same extension).
1297R. Glouc (Rolls) 4498, & vor to passy vorþ þe mouns he ȝarkede uaste is route. c1320Sir Beues 2043 (MS. A) Euer a was pasaunt, Til a com to Mombraunt. c1380Sir Ferumb. 2026 Wan þay weren alle yn y-paste..Florippe het schitte þe dore faste. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. xxii, Out of my contree..Be se to pas, tuke I myn auenture. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 178 He understude nocht that he suld pas be see..and thare sa mony..that may pas land gate. 1549Compl. Scot. Ded. 6 Ther durst none of that grit companye pas bakuart nor forduart. 1593Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. i. 69 Most part of all this Night..I was imploy'd in passing to and fro, About relieuing of the Centinels. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 1031 A Bridge..by which the Spirits perverse With easie intercourse pass to and fro. 1727Gay Fables i. xv. 7 But where he past, he terror threw.
b. With advb. accusative, expressing route or distance, as to pass that way, to pass a mile, etc.
a1300Cursor M. 8806 Quen he moght pass nanoþer gatt. 14..Sir Beues 89/1725 + 7 (MS. C) When he was paste a myle fro Damaske. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 570 Seir gaitis pas thay, Baith to Paris in fay. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 6 For never wight he lets to passe that way Over his Bridge,..But he him makes his passage-penny pay. 1611Coryat Crudities 93 After I was passed a few miles from Vercellis, I came into the Dukedome of Milan. 1847Tennyson Princ. i. 183 She once had past that way.
c. Of something inanimate or involuntary: To move on under any force, to be moved, carried, conveyed, transported, impelled onward; to flow as water, a stream, etc.
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 140 From perlese paradis passeþ þe stronde. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. vii. 80 If the water do..passe aboue the gyrdlesteed, they haue a hundred Aspres. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 146 A bridge..with three Arches, vnder which the boates passe. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 177 That the Pole may..pass from one Puppet to the other, as the Work may require. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xv, The river was gay with boats passing to that city. 1846McCulloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 11 No official accounts having been kept of the quantity or value of the articles passing between the two countries. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 23 While the rheophore is thus placed and the current still passing, the patient should be made to exercise these muscles.
d. Of a line, string, path, etc.: To extend or be continued, to have its course, ‘run’.
1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 220 Each two Centers..shall have an imaginary Axis pass between them. 1726tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 439 A Diameter of the Ellipse..passing thro' the given Points B and A. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §254 note, Two strong..ropes, one passing from the head of the shears..to the rocks. 1813Hobhouse Journey 485 The path passes round a bay, where there is a solitary cottage. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 297 Branch bundles passing down through the cortex.
e. To proceed or go on in narration, consideration, or action. Now usually pass on: see 65 a.
c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 265 But hit were alle to longe to rede The names and therefore I pace. c1386― Prol. 36 Er that I ferther in this tale pace. 1563Shute Archit. F ij, The whiche pillor of .60. foote in height shalbe deuided into .9. partes, where of the Epistilium occupieth..one such part, and so passing forward as necessitie shall requyre in order as is before mencioned. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. viii. 42, I will not passe further without first making a..description of the yle. 1620T. Granger Div. Logike 309 One being finished, we immediately passe to another. 1899F. Harrison Tennyson, Ruskin, Mill, etc. i. 10 So far we have been considering the lyrical form of the In Memoriam... We pass to its substance.
2. a. With reference to place or object of destination. Chiefly with to (unto, into).
c1350Leg. Rood (1871) 75 Till araby sone gan he pas. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 77 To Penaunce and to pilgrimage I wol passe with þis oþure. c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 212 [It] stant eke in so Juste a place That every soune mot to hyt pace. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 5606 Now ben thei alle to batayle paste. a1425Cursor M. 1034 (Trin.) A welle..Þat renneþ out of foure stremes Passynge into dyuerse remes. 1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 21 Democles..elected two of his chiefe Lordes to passe vnto Delphos. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ix. 334 This riuer taking his originall from mount Atlas..passeth southward. 1782A. Monro Anat. Bones, Nerves, etc. 15 The marrow passes into the articular cavities. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 326 She rose..And past into the little garth beyond.
b. Of spiritual destination; esp. in to pass to God, heaven, etc.
a1225Ancr. R. 330 Þet we moten þuruh rudi scheome passen to þe heouene. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxviii. (Adrian) 150, I sal cume..& cal þe..to pass to God quhen we are bone. 1453Paston Lett. I. 256 He passyd to God on Monday last past, at xj. of the clok befor none. 1517Knaresborough Wills (Surtees) I. 6 All my good freindes passyd to the mercie of God. 1602Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 73 All that liues must dye, Passing through Nature, to Eternity. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 690 She..past To where beyond these voices there is peace.
** To go about, circulate, have currency (in some capacity or character).
†3.
a. To go about, to travel; to move about, be astir, be alive and active. to pass on earth (mold), to have one's active being, to exist: cf. go v. B. 1 b.
1340–70Alex. & Dind. 741 Whi fauure ȝe þanne falce godus, and folliche seggen Þat þei han power of peple þat pacen on molde? 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 7 Þe moste parti of þe peple Þat passeþ nou on eorþe. 1393Ibid. C. vii. 67 Hadde he wysshes at wille, Sholde no lyf lyuye, þat on hus londe passede. 1561Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 162 That na skipparis, marineris, nor utheris pass in cumpany with thame. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 45 He did his Apostillis teiche, Throw all the warld for to pas, And till all Creature for to preiche. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. i. 114 Yong men..passyng as I haue said, in the nightes to goe about the streetes.
†b. well to pass, well to do, well off (cf. † well to live) Obs.: see well adv.
4. To be handed round or about; to circulate, be in circulation, be current, have currency. to pass current († pass for current): see current a. 8.
1589Nashe Anat. Absurd. Wks. (Grosart) I. 65 Vpstart reformers..coueting to haue newe opinions passe vnder their names. 1639T. Brugis tr. Camus' Moral Relat. 248 This foolish and false rule of honour, which passeth..among the Nobility and Gentry of France. a1715Burnet Own Time vi. (1734) II. 161 Our money they thought would not pass, and so the Markets would not be furnished. 1731Swift On Death Dr. Swift 189 And then, to make them pass the glibber, Revised by Tibbalds, Moore, and Cibber. 1777Sheridan Sch. Scand. iii. iii. song, Let the toast pass, drink to the lass. 1810Sir A. Boswell Edinburgh xiii, From hand to hand the whirling halfpence pass. 1872E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. i. i. 3 The coinage of Constantinople passed..over the greater part of the Eastern world. 1886Manch. Exam. 13 Mar. 5/2 A certain quantity of paper engraved and signed so as to pass instead of gold.
5. a. to pass for, as: to be accepted as equivalent to; to be taken for; to be accepted, received, or held in repute as. Often with the implication of being something else.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 61 God made him, and therefore let him passe for a man. 1607Middleton Michaelm. Term ii. iii. 289, I might make my bond pass for a hundred pound i' th' city. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. ii. §17 Had Lucretius been only a Poet, this might have passed for a handsomly described Fable. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 29/1 The Double Rose Noble..passes for thirty nine or Forty shillings. 1711Addison Spect. No. 1 ⁋5, I..sometimes pass for a Jew in the Assembly of Stock-jobbers at Jonathan's. 1809Malkin Gil Blas ix. vii. ⁋1 You pass for a kind-hearted gentleman. 1870Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) I. App. 664 Something happened..which at least passed for a regular election. 1884H. Spencer Man v. State, New Toryism 1 Most of those who now pass as Liberals, are Tories of a new type. 1933M. Grant Conquest of Continent 269 This enables some of these light Negroes to ‘pass’ as Whites. 1948Time 16 Feb. 25/1 Possibly as many as 5,000,000 people with ‘a determinable part’ of Negro blood are now ‘passing’ as whites.
b. to pass by: to be currently known by (a name or appellation).
1761Hume Hist. Eng. II. App. iii. 518 Davis..discovered the Straits which pass by his name. Ibid. (1806) IV. lix. 460 A low room, which passed by the appellation of ‘hell’. 1894Huxley Evol. & Ethics Prolegom. 13 That progressive modification of civilisation which passes by the name of the ‘evolution of society’.
c. to pass on, upon: to impose upon; to gain credit with.
1678Butler Hud. iii. i. 1202 'Tis true, I thought the Trick would pass Upon a Woman well enough. a1680― Rem. (1759) I. 229 Illiterate Dunces undiscern'd Pass on the Rabble for the learn'd. 1738tr. Guazzo's Art Conversation 192, I am now sensible that you have passed upon me very pleasantly. 1781C. Johnston Hist. J. Juniper I. 193 This imposition was too gross to pass upon him. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) V. 60 Such modes of speaking as would not pass for reasons upon any body. 1895Century Mag. Sept. 676/2 It was a poor thing for the Bruce boys to do, to try to pass upon him like this.
d. To be held or accepted as a member of a religious or ethnic group other than one's own. Used esp. of a person of Negro ancestry who is held to be or regards himself as a white person.
1935H. W. Horwill Dict. Mod. Amer. Usage 224/2 In Am. there are many persons with a strain of Negro blood in whom this heritage of colour is so inconspicuous that they might easily be supposed to be of pure white lineage. If such persons leave their Negro associations and succeed in becoming accepted as Whites, they are said to pass. 1938I. Goldberg Wonder of Words vi. 118 There are other Jews who resembling, psychologically, the troubled Negro—try to ‘pass’, which is the Negro term for being taken as a White. 1952M. Steen Phoenix Rising vii. 170 Coloured people who hide their origin and live as whites are said to ‘pass’. 1953E. H. Brookes S. Afr. in Changing World vii. 147 Because of the permutations of nature, a coloured man white enough to ‘pass’ can have children or grandchildren who look ‘Coloured’. 1955D. Viklund tr. Tingsten's Probl. S. Afr. xiii. 148 There are two coloured brothers. One of them manages to ‘pass’ and becomes a barrister, a respectable member of white Cape society. 1960D. Jacobson Evidence of Love 92 He could ‘pass’ in the Transvaal, very easily, she thought. 1963M. McCarthy Group xiv. 319 ‘Freddy's parents were trying to pass,’ she went on sombrely. ‘Like so many rich German Jews.’ 1966K. L. Morgan in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 606/2 The children used to love to come to Philadelphia with Caddy because there they could pass and have fun. 1971Encycl. Judaica X. 60 At the height of 19th-century liberalism in Europe and America, it was possible for some Jews to ‘pass’ without doing anything more than simply ceasing to function in any Jewish association. 1976Wilson Q. Autumn 87 Acceptable pigmentation plus wealth and influence were necessary for persons who hoped to obtain the limpeza-de-sangue document. But how dark one could be and still ‘pass’ varied from region to region.
*** To go from one to another, be transferred.
6. To go or be transported from one place or set of circumstances to another. (Usually with prep.) hey pass! a conjurer's exclamation, professing to order something to go from one place to another.
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 8 Fowheles..þat passes fra a land to a-nothire. 1573–80Baret Alv. P 163 A griefe passed from the side into the heart. 1727Gay Fables i. xlii. 35 ‘See this bank-note: observe the blessing: Breathe on the bill’. Heigh! pass! 'tis gone. 1860Tindall Glac. ii. iv. 248 Nothing..is more common than to pass, in descending a mountain, from snow to rain.
7. To undergo transition from one form or state to another, ‘to be changed by regular gradations’ (J.); to undergo chemical, mineralogical, structural, or other gradual conversion into.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1583 Hypsip., And from forme in to forme it [matter] passyn may. 1618Chapman Hesiod i. 197 Jove's will was, The good should into heavenly natures pass. 1674Playford Skill Mus. iii. 5 That which is a fifth shall pass into a third. 1710Berkeley Princ. Hum. Knowl. §124 Ancient and rooted prejudices do often pass into principles. 1813Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 197 It is said that peat has been discovered passing into mineral coal. 1851Wright Richardson's Geol. 126 Thus granite passes through syenite and greenstone into basalt, and this last to pitchstone. 1854Brewster More Worlds xv. 228 Our Earth passed from a state of chaos into an orderly world. 1855Prescott Philip II, I. ii. iii. 179 The hatred of theologians has passed into a proverb. 1871B. Stewart Heat (ed. 2) §84 A substance passes from the solid to the liquid state. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 595 The patient then passes into a severe general lichen, after the ordinary type.
8. Law. Of property: To be conveyed to a person; to go by conveyance, or come by inheritance to, into the hands of.
1429Rolls Parlt. IV. 344/1 Neyther be colour or occasion of feffement or of yeft of gode moeble passede be Dede, nor other wyse. c1449Pecock Repr. II. 404 The ȝifte so mad to him passid into him fulli and hooli. 1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 47 Al the rente and service..bee incidences to the reversion and passe by the graunte of reversion. 1611Bible Num. xxvii. 7 Thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to passe vnto them. 1642tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. iii. §204. 91 If liverie and seisin bee made unto the Monke..nothing shall passe thereby. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 51 The advowson passed, because it was clearly referred to in the grant. 1883Law Times Rep. XLIX. 337/1 There is no case in which the benefit of a personal covenant, not assignable on the face of it, has been held to pass by assignment.
9. To be uttered between two (or more) persons mutually; to be interchanged or transacted, as discourse, communications, letters, mutual offices.
1568T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 91 Remember yet the friendly wordes, ypast betweene vs twaine. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. 462 Here must no speeches passe, nor swords be drawne. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. v. 63 Now M. Broome, you come to know What hath past betweene me, and Fords wife. 1712Steele Spect. No. 263 ⁋5 Two Letters which passed between a Mother and Son very lately. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. v, I know what has past between you. 1819Shelley Julian & Maddalo 158 The Count entered. Salutations passed. 1885Gd. Words 258/2 Then, by-and-by, the vesper bells at ten ring out from the steeple,..some moral reflections pass.
**** With reference to place left: To go away.
10. a. To go away; to go forth, depart, remove from († of, off) a place, thing, or person. Of a thing: To be taken away or removed (from).
a1300Cursor M. 13731 Giue vs þi dome, and lat vs pas. c1330King of Tars 49 That schul ye witen ar ye pase. 13..Cursor M. 4001 (Gött.) If þu will þai sal pasce, And cum nohut in his hand percas. c1384Chaucer H. Fame i. 239 And shortly of this thyng to pace. c1400Destr. Troy 1896 Pas fro my presens on payne of þi lyffe. c1435Torr. Portugal 1483 Fro the wyld bestis gan he passe To an hye hyll. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 147 To pas of the contree. 1530Palsgr. 653/2, I passe, I go forthe or away, je passe. 1611Bible Matt. xxvi. 39 If it be possible, let this cup passe from me. 1819Byron Juan ii. cx, The sand Swam round and round, and all his senses pass'd. 1879E. Arnold Lt. Asia iii. (1883) 66 The holy man..made The eight prostrations,..Then turned and passed.
†b. to pass one's way: to depart. Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xi. (Symon & Iudas) 384 Þane þe apostolis can assay owt of þe land to pass þar vay. Ibid. xxxiii. (George) 346 [He] lape one horse & passit his way. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 184 In pess lete thame pass thar vay. c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 387 That we may frely passen forth oure way. c1435Torr. Portugal 771 And hys way fast ageyn dyd pase.
c. fig. To depart, diverge from a course, practice, principle; to pass from († pass of) = to leave, abandon, forsake; † to pass of wit, to go out of one's wits.
c1400Destr. Troy 8685 Sum walt into wodenes, & of wit past. c1449Pecock Repr. I. 176 A man leueth..and passith fro that that he hath toke upon him to kepe as lawe of God. 1497Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. C iij, As a henne yt passeth fro her egges & suffre them to be colde. 1777Watson Philip II, I. x. 285 Intreating him..to pass from the other taxes.
11. To depart from this life, decease, die.
a. with various extensions, as to pass hence, etc.
a1300Cursor M. 17019 Þe ..wittes five..all sal be tint er saul pas. a1330Roland & V. 130 To sende him miȝt & space,..Er he hennes passe. c1375Lay Folks Mass Bk. 295 (MS. B) And for þo soules þat hethen are past. 1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 72 The sowlys that passyn hens out of this world. 1583Leg. Bp. St. Androis Pref. 74 Lyk to our faythfull pastoris past befoir. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 162 His long trouble now is passing Out of this world. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 153 No handful of earth shall bury me, pass'd to the shadows. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. vii. 237 There passed from among us a man who held a high..position in English literature.
b. simply. Now arch. or dial.
1340Ayenb. 214 Non ne wot huanne he ssel sterue ne huanne he ssel paci. c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 486 Myn harm I wol confessen er I pace. 1418in E.E. Wills (1883) 38 Ȝyf þat I passe Rather þan sche. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 25 Disturbe him not, let him passe peaceably. 1605― Lear v. iii. 314 Vex not his ghost, O let him passe. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lx, He past; a soul of nobler tone. 1878Seeley Stein III. 560 About 6 o'clock [he] was seen to turn on his left side, breathe a deep sigh, and pass.
***** To go by, move past.
12. a. To go by. Now the leading intransitive sense of the simple verb. (Not in J.)
c1320Sir Beues 849 (MS. A) A wende pasi in griþ & pes, Þe stiward cride; ‘Leiþ on & sles’. c1430Syr Tryam. 219 An olde knyȝt that may hur lede, Tylle sche be paste. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 99 Ther passed a theef byfore alexandre. 1549Compl. Scot. Ded. 6 The hagbutaris past neir to the camp of ther enemeis. 1611Bible 1 Sam. xvi. 10 Againe Iesse made seuen of his sonnes to passe before Samuel. 1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4445/3 The Right of the Foot.., pass'd yesterday in Review before his Grace. 1842Tennyson Voyage vi, And hills and scarlet-mingled woods Glow'd for a moment as we past. 1878B. Taylor Deukalion iii. ii. 105 At a distance I Have seen thee pass. Mod. Allow me to pass, please. Looking on as the procession passed.
b. Of things: To be moved, conveyed, impelled past; to flow past. Also fig.
13..K. Alis. 2192 That launce paced without harme: Ac Alisaundre him smot thorugh the brest. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xii. 14 At the beginning of the valley passe two smal riuers. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 22 And high hath set his throne where Tiberis doth pas. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. 38 My Lord stand backe, and let the Coffin passe. 1596― 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 95 The nimble-footed Mad-Cap, Prince of Wales,..that daft the World aside, And bid it passe. a1689A. Behn Dream, The grove was gloomy all around, Murmuring the stream did pass. 1748Thomson Cast. Indol. i. vi, Gay castles in the clouds that pass. 1836J. H. Newman Prayer ii. in Lyra Apost. (1849) 65 The pageant of a kingdom vast, And things unutterable, past Before the Prophet's eye.
c. With various complementary adjs., mostly of negative meaning, as to pass unheeded, pass unnoticed, etc. lit. and fig.
1607Middleton Michaelm. Term ii. i. 109 Do I pass altogether unnoted, think you? 1624Quarles Div. Poems, Sion's Sonn. (1717) 382 Those crimes Which past unthought of in my prosp'rous times. 1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) I. i. 13 It is done every day, and passes unregarded. 1784Cowper Task i. 317 Nor unnoted pass The sycamore, capricious in attire. 1809Byron Bards & Rev. 255 Shall gentle Coleridge pass unnoticed here?
13. Of time and temporal things, conditions, etc.:
a. Of time: To elapse, glide by, come to an end.
13..R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. XX. 578 Twelf hundred & sixtene þer to Ȝeres were ipassed, ar þis were ido. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 416 And vigilies and fastyng dayes alle þise late I passe, And ligge abedde in lenten. 1388Wyclif Job xvii. 11 Mi daies ben passid. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 84 The first day passed without any thing doyng. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 82 More Ages..Than have from Tithon past to Cæsar's Days. 1736Butler Anal. i. ii. Wks. 1874 I. 42 If the husbandman lets his seedtime pass without sowing, the whole year is lost to him. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey v. x, The first few days..appear to pass very slowly. 1856Sir B. Brodie Psychol. Inq. I. iv. 148 As we advance in age so do the years pass more rapidly. Mod. Make haste; time passes!
b. Of things in time.
13..Cursor M. 27630 If þou be fair, it passes sone. 1382Wyclif Luke xxi. 33 Heuene and erthe schulen passe: but my wordis schulen not passe. 1502W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione i. xx. 169 The worlde passeth with all his plesaunt delites. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 75 So passeth, in the passing of a day, Of mortall life the leafe, the bud, the flowre. 1667Milton P.L. v. 453 Not to let th' occasion pass. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. ii. 20 Beauty's a Charm, but soon the Charm will pass. a1771Gray Song 10 Skies serene Speak not always winter past. 1841James Brigand i, Thus passed the earlier part of the day's journey. 1882Tennyson To Virgil vii, Kings and realms that pass to rise no more.
****** To go or get through.
14. a. To go or get through (esp. by a narrow or contracted passage, or in face of obstructions and difficulties); to have, obtain, or force passage, to make one's way. Also of things.
c1320Sir Beues 4417 (MS. A) To Iesu he made his praiere..Þat he moste pase wiþ is lif, To sen is children and is wif. c1325Metr. Hom. 70 What thyng sall passe qwyte, And be noght in this snarres tane. c1400Destr. Troy 11149 The yates..þai stake,..Neuer in purpos with prise to pas at hom efte. 1509Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 9 Preamble, The Kynges Subgiectes shal nott..passe on horsebacke..nor on fote by that way. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xv. 129 Through which narrow streights, Alexander..made his armie to passe. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 290 Mut. My Lord you passe not heere. Tit. What villaine Boy, bar'st me my way in Rome? 1667Milton P.L. iii. 480 And they who to be sure of Paradise Dying put on the weeds of Dominic Or in Franciscan think to pass disguis'd. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew s.v., [At] Billiards, when the Ball goes through the Court or Porch, it is said to pass. 1879E. Arnold Lt. Asia iii. (1883) 80 At the gates he set A triple guard, and bade no man should pass By day or night, issuing or entering in.
fig.1563–7Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 12 No man salbe admittit..to the philosophie that has nocht passit be the first or second classe of humanite.
†b. To make the passage of a channel or sea.
1588B. C. in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 135 From Dunkerke is lately come to Lisbone a smale shipp..having passed in vij daies. 1662J. Davies tr. Mandelslo's Trav. 102 A hundred small vessels..which came from Cananor and the coasts of Malabar, and had pass'd, notwithstanding the blockhouse of Dutch vessels.
c. Of things: e.g. to be admitted through a customs barrier.
1637Star Chamb. Decree §6 in Milton's Areop. (Arb.) 12 Nor shall any Searcher, Wayter, or other Officer belonging to the Custome-house,..suffer the same to passe. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 115 The officers of the customs allowed the superstitious garments and trinkets to pass.
d. To go through a duct; to be voided.
1731Arbuthnot Aliments i. vi. (1735) 17 Such [substances], whose Tenacity exceeds the Powers of Digestion, will neither pass nor be converted into Aliment. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 480 When a bougie can readily pass, there is no necessity for using any other method. 1869E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 181 If large quantities are given, much passes by the bowels. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 233 The patient was progressing satisfactorily, save that..the button had not passed.
15. To be allowed or not stopped by a censor, to go uncensured; to go without check or challenge; to be tolerated or allowed to serve the purpose; to be successful as an expedient or trick; to ‘go down’, to ‘do’; to pass muster.
13..Cursor M. 28707 (Cott.) For quen a sin was wroken sua, Hu sal he passe has hundret ma. 1565Abp. Parker in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 28 We thinke it maye so passe well ynoughe. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, Prol. 11 Those that come to see Onely a show or two, and so a gree The Play may passe. 1672Wycherley Love in a Wood v. iii, Indeed and indeed, the trick will not pass, Jonas. 1781Cowper Wks. (1837) XV. 92, I never suffer a line to pass till I have made it as good as I can. a1850Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 108 This sonnet..might be divided yet more nicely, and made yet clearer; but this division may pass. 1876Ouida Winter City vi. 130 Pranks that pass in a palace, though the police would interfere in a dancing garden. 1907G. B. Shaw Major Barbara ii. 222 Youd pass still. Why didnt you dye your hair. 1962J. Braine Life at Top xv. 191 She said: ‘He's a lovely little boy.’ ‘He'll pass,’ I said absently.
16. To be allowed and approved by a court, legislature, or deliberative body; to ‘get through’; to receive legislative sanction; to be ratified.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 110 Vpon him onely whome the king nominated, he compelled most commonly the election to passe. 1579Fulke Heskins's Parl. 376 The bill will passe neuer the sooner. 1672Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 409, I tell him that we must get the Patent passe before Parliament. 1711Addison Spect. No. 72 ⁋5 This Resolution passed in a general Club Nemine Contradicente. 1765Chron. in Ann. Reg. 154/2 A motion was lately made in the Irish house of commons to address his majesty..But it passed in the negative. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 61 That great body or our statute law which passed under those whom they treat as usurpers. 1880McCarthy Own Times IV. lviii. 285 The bill passed without substantial alteration.
17. To go or get through any trial successfully; spec. to be successful in an examination, to reach or satisfy the required standard. to pass master, etc., to graduate as master, etc. (in some faculty).
1600O. E. (? M. Sutcliffe) Repl. Libel i. viii. 217 Parsons is not onely a practitioner, but also has passed master in this facultie. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Degree, To pass bachelor of divinity, the candidate must have been seven years master of arts. 1833Marryat P. Simple xxxviii, If I pass, which I trust I shall be able to do. 1840Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XXI. 498/2 The candidate for mathematical honours must, in the first instance, ‘pass’ in classics. 1843Penny Cycl. XXVI. 29/2 Candidates will pass who show a competent knowledge in any two of the subjects. The list of the candidates who have passed is to be published. 1872in Athenæum 11 May 583/2 Lest it should be supposed that no Lawrence could pass for the artillery. 1876Lubbock Elem. Educ. in Contemp. Rev. June 79 Only 62,000 passed in any extra subject.
†18. To succeed, to be successful. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 8295 Than Troiell..Wold haue led the lord o-lyue to þe towne; But..Thai pullid hym with pyne, but passid þai noght. 1481Caxton Godeffroy ccviii. 304 They ansuerd that it shold be hard to be had, not with⁓stondyng they muste essaye, ffor they myght passe in none other maner. 1589Nashe Martins Months Minde Wks. (Grosart) I. 161 Howe they meane than to proceede (if they passe) shall bee a Mumchaunce for me.
******* To go beyond, exceed, excel, surpass.
†19.
a. To excel, to surpass: to go to excess. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 392 Þouȝ þai be lesse in oo chirche, þai passen in an-oþer. c1394P. Pl. Crede 846 Paraunter y miȝte Passen par auenture, & in som poynt erren. c1440Ipomydon 916 In alle the feld was none so wight, But if it were my lord the kynge, For he is passand in euery thynge. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1401 So dyd he excede & passe. a1529― Ph. Sparowe 151 Because that she dyd pas In poesy to endyte. 1573–80Baret Alv. P 169 Onely Demosthenes passeth, or excelleth. 1602Life T. Cromwell v. iii. 123 My faith compar'd with thine as much shall pass As doth the diamond excel the glass. c1611Chapman Iliad ii. 594 The fairest man..Of all the Greeks, save Peleus' son, who pass'd for gen'ral frame.
b. quasi-impersonal, it passes: it exceeds all ordinary limits, passes description, ‘beats everything’. Obs.
1549Chaloner tr. Erasm. on Folly K ij, It passeth, to see what sporte and passetyme the Godds them selues haue, at suche folie of these selie mortall men. 1599Porter Angry Wom. Abingd. in Hazl. Dodsley VII. 352, I, hearing her,..led her such a dance in the dark as it passes. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 178 There was such laughing, and Hellen so blusht, and Paris so chaft, and all the rest so laught, that it past. a1658Cleveland Wks. (1687) 376 You keep such Hurly-burly that it passes. 1689Shadwell Bury F. i. i, And were as merry as pass'd.
********
20. Of events: To go on or proceed in the course of things; to take place, occur, happen. Formerly with indirect obj.: see quot. a 1542.
a1542Wyatt Let. in Wks. (1861) p. xix, That I should write and declare such things as haue passed me whilst I was in the Emperor's Court. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 30 If he did know Of straunge adventures, which abroad did pas. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 173 Heav'n is for thee too high To know what passes there. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §25, I am attentive to all that passes. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. I. iii. 17 Reflect coolly upon what has passed. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 726 Intelligence of what was passing was conveyed to the Lord President.
********* Used in reference to process of law.[AF. passer, orig. to proceed, go on: cf. the legal sense of ‘process’, ‘proceedings’.] 21. a. Of a jury (assize, inquest): To sit in inquest on or upon; to decide or adjudicate between parties; to give a verdict for or against. arch.
[1293Yearbks. 20 & 21 Edw. I (Rolls) 399 Lassise passe, ke dyt ke Willem sun pere..ne morut poynt seysy. Ibid. 401 Unkes jugement ne passa sur le verdyt de le assise: kar, apres le Assise passe, les partyes aveyent jour pur oyer lur jugement; e la partye demandant ne voleyt pluys venyr en Court.] a1377Liber Assisarum (Repts. of Edw. III, ed. 1679) 5 Si l'assise passe pur le demandant. Ibid. 46 Et l'assise passa sur le point contre le barun et la feme. ]13..Evang. Nicod. 243 in Herrig Archiv LIII. 396 He chesed a quest, on him to pas. 1437Rolls of Parlt. IV. 509/2 If the seid Thomas Stamford, perceyve that eny enquest woll not passe with his entent. 1442T. Beckington Corr. (Rolls) II. 215 We avis..not lightly to passe upon suche graunts of your demaynnes. 1454Rolls of Parlt. V. 239/2 By the Jurre that passed betwene the said Duke and the said Thomas, it was founde that the same Thomas was gylty. 1473Sir J. Paston in P. Lett. III. 84 The jurye that passyd again Saundre. 1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 21 Such persones as passen and ben impanelled upon issues joined between partie and partie in the Courtes of the same Citie. 1599Warn. Faire Wom. ii. 1209 Master Shiriff, ye shal not need to returne any Iury to passe upon him, for he hath pleaded guilty. 1688Jrnl. Ho. Comm. (1803) X. 22 Jurors, which pass upon Men in Tryals for High Treason, ought to be Freeholders. 1752J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 203 The Clerk saith to the Prisoner ‘..these Men which you shall hear called..are to pass between our Sovereign Lord the King and you, upon Trial of your Life and Death’. 1887Pall Mall G. 4 Nov. 2/1 Judge Stephen has decided that a jury could not be trusted to pass upon the question of Endacott's good faith. 1901N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 248 Sheriffs' juries should never be asked to do more than pass upon the estates of the alleged lunatics.
b. To serve or ‘sit’ on (upon, † in) a jury, assize, or trial.
1574Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 333 Thinhabitanntes..used to passe in juries of triall. 1597in Ferguson & Nanson Munic. Rec. Carlisle (1887) 277 Yf thes [slander] may goe unpunished, it is not for noe honest man..to pass upon any jury. 1752J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 40 With a List of the Assizers Names and Designations, that are to pass upon his Assize. Mod. Juryman's Oath (Sc. Criminal Cases), You fifteen swear by Almighty God..you will truth say and no truth conceal, in so far as you are to pass on this assize.
c. Of a court, a judge, the law: To adjudicate, pass sentence upon, on. Also transf. (With indirect passive.)
1532Tindale Pathw. Script. Wks. (Parker Soc. 1848) 11 When the law hath passed upon us, and condemned us to death. 1545T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde Prol. C ij, Yf euery thynge in this wourdle shold be wayed and passyd vpon after this sorte. 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 137 The laws must further passe vpon him. 1605Shakes. Lear iii. vii. 24 We may not passe vpon his life Without the forme of Iustice. 1640D. Cawdrey Three Serm. (1641) 12 A Commission of Oyer and Terminer, which passes upon life and death. 1680Hickeringill Narr. Tryal Wks. 1716 II. 208 The wicked World..cannot pass upon it..till they have first defiled it with Lies and Slanders. a1863C. P. Daly in Ct. Comm. Pleas, New York in Herald & Genealog. (1863) 345 It does not fall within the sphere of my judicial duty to pass upon that question. 1896Law Times C. 491/1 The conception of a judge to pass on questions of law, and a jury to pass on questions of fact. 1917Ade Let. 29 July (1973) 68 If you want me to pass upon the sub-titles, I shall be glad to do so and if I change them it will be to make them more compact and not more intricate.
22. a. Of a verdict, sentence, or judgement: To be rendered, given, or pronounced; of justice: To be executed; † (rarely) of a case or suit: To be determined or decided (quot. 1453).
[1293Yearbks. 20 & 21 Edw. I 401 Unkes jugement ne passa sur le verdyt de le assise: kar, apres le Assise passe, les partyes aveyent jour pur oyer lur jugement; e la partye demandant ne voleyt pluys venyr en Court. Ibid. 411 Entre ky e ky passa le jugement?] a1380in Horstmann Altenglische Legenden (1878) i. 32/2 Þe sentence, mayden, asoyleþ þe, Whon þat hit passeþ on me. 1453Rolls of Parlt. V. 267/2 If..the mater pleded passe or be demed for the Pleintif therin. 1580Sidney Ps. xvii. ii, O, let my sentence passe from thine own face. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xxxix. (1739) 59 After Verdict, Judgment passed according to the letter of the Law. 1771Goldsm. Hist. Eng. II. 82 A similar sentence passed against some of his adherents. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. v. 199 Before his arrival, unlimited condemnation had passed on the whole of his proceedings. 1891Law Rep. Weekly Notes 78/2 The verdict and judgment passed for the plaintiff.
†b. Of the accused: To undergo trial and sentence; to be sentenced. Obs. rare.
a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxxxii. 254 To dyssymell the matter vayleth not, syn that Huon must passe by iugement; howe saye you, shall he be hangyd or drawen?
**********
†23. To care, to reck. (Usually with negative.) Obs.
a. Const. for: to pass for, to care for, regard, mind.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts 60 Paule and Sylas, not passyng for theyr whyppyng..prayed and song hymnes. 1565–73Durh. Depos. (Surtees) 109 She..said that she dyd not passe yf all ropers were hanged. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 82 They passe for no Doctores: They mocke the Pope: They raile on Luther. 1606G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine xiv. 61 Neither doe I passe greatly for my life. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Forerunners vi, Yet if you go, I passe not; take your way. 1671H. M. tr. Erasm. Colloq. 292, I do not so much pass for the body.
b. Const. of (cf. to reck of), on, upon. Obs.
1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 24 The scoldying of brathels is no more to bee passed on then the squekyng of welle wheles. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV 212 For he passed litle, either of the pein of his seruaunt, or of his charge and expence. 1555Eden Decades 12 Thinhabitantes passe not on them. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1577) H j, In our countrey of Lumbardy these matters are not passed vpon. 1590Greene Never too late (1600) 47, I passe of my honour more than life. 1598–9[see d].
c. Const. with inf. or at. To care, concern oneself, trouble oneself; to scruple, hesitate, stickle; to take any heed; to ‘mind’, object. Obs.
1548Udall Erasm. Par. Luke 4 Y⊇ couetous Phariseis passed lesse at the violacion or breakyng of gods preceptes, then of their tradicions. 1549–62Sternhold & H. Ps. lv. 22 Of frendship to neglect the bandes they passe or care no whit. 1563Homilies ii. Place Prayer ii. (1859) 349 Much wicked people pass nothing to resort to the church. 1578J. Stockwood Serm. 24 Aug. A ij b, I passe very little to be iudged of them. a1625E. Chaloner Six Serm. (1629) 149 To retaine it, it passeth not to forgoe halfe her controversies.
d. Const. with clause, becoming at length object of pass; in later use with obj. n. = care for, regard. Obs.
Cf. ‘I care not who he is’. ‘Not regarding his entreaties’.
1549in Disc. Common Weal Eng. (1893) p. lii, He passythe not what he saythe, nor what he dothe, so that he may satisfie his vngodlie desires. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. viii. (1895) 255 Nor the Vtopians passe not how many of them they bring to distruction. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 104 Three poles to a hillock (I pas not how long). a1617Bayne On Coloss. (1634) 340 Passe not you who doth give sentence against you. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Forerunners ii, I passe not, I, what of the rest become.
1598–9B. Jonson Case is Altered v. ad fin., Signiors, for you, I pass you not, though I let you pass; for in truth I pass not of you. a1641Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. iv. (1642) 270 Not passing his much and often intreaties she continued her refusall. 1647H. More Song of Soul i. ii. xliii, [He] deemed it no small disgrace That that bold youngster should so little passe His learned speech.
e. With emphatic expansion: to pass nothing at all, not to pass a fly, pin, straw, whit. Obs.
1556Olde Antichrist 132 They passe not a pynne of the Magistrates. 1572J. Jones Bathes of Bath Pref. 5 So for the reprochfull words of the backbiting Zoilus I passe not a strawe. 1573G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 27 He..said he passid not ani thing at al of there displeasure. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 54/2 We passe not a flie for it. a1592Greene Alphonsus i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 228 Whoe'er it be, I do not pass a pin. 1610Day Festivals iii. (1615) 63 Nor doe we passe a whit what Iew or Gentile can say against it.
*********** Elliptical or absolute uses of II. or III.
24. Fencing. To make a pass; to thrust, lunge. Const. on, upon.
1595Saviolo Practice ***j, You may suddenly passe with your left foot..and turne your point vnder his Rapier. 1598B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. v. (1616) 17 Bob. A well-experienc'd hand would passe vpon you, at pleasure. Mat. How meane you, Sir, passe vpon me? Bob. Why, thus Sir (make a thrust at me) come in. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. i. 48 Nay, and thou passe vpon me, Ile no more with thee. 1602― Ham. v. ii. 309 Laertes, you but dally, I pray you passe with your best violence. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. i. iii, And if a horned divell should burst forth, I would passe on him with a mortall stocke. 1700Dryden Palamon & Arc. ii. 196 They lash, they foin, they pass, they strive to bore Their Corslets.
25. Conjuring. To cause any object to pass, as by magic, from one person or place to another.
1589Pasquil's Ret. D iij, No body knowes how it came or how it went, for, since she was deliuered, (passe and repasse) the childe was neuer heard of. 1627H. Burton Bait. Pope's Bull Ep. Ded. 19 They are like cunning Iugglars, that can passe and repasse at pleasure.
26. Cards and Dice.
a. In primero, poker, etc.: To throw up one's hand, retire from the game.
1599Minsheu Sp. Dict., Dial. iii. 26, I am come to passe againe. 1717Prior Alma i. 284 As in a luckless gamester's place, She would not play, yet must not pass. 1816Singer Hist. Cards 246 When the first player says Pass, every one is obliged to discard, notwithstanding any one may have an ace or a six in hand. a1889American Hoyle in Farmer Americanisms, ‘I pass’ is a term used in draw poker, to signify that a player throws up his hand, and retires from the game.
b. In euchre, napoleon, etc.: To decline or voluntarily forgo one's opportunity (as of making the trump): see euchre n. 1. Also, in Bridge and other card games, to decline to make a bid. Also fig.
1869‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xxxiv. 375 Jack said, ‘I pass’—he plays euchre sometimes—and we all passed in turn. 1884Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) XVII. 229/1 The eldest hand may decline to play, when he says ‘I pass’. If the eldest hand passes, the next player to the left has a similar option of standing or passing, and so on all round... If all pass, the hand is not played. 1908R. F. Foster Auction Bridge 29 The player on his left must either pass, or make a better declaration, or ‘double’. 1918[see go v. 80 k]. 1929M. C. Work Compl. Contract Bridge 42 South..bids one No Trump: North..passes. 1959Reese & Dormer Bridge Player's Dict. 163 North, not being obliged to keep the bidding open, might pass. 1964Official Encycl. Bridge 414/2 Pass, a call by which a player indicates that, at that turn, he does not choose to contract for a number of odd tricks at any denomination, nor does he choose, at that turn, to double a contract of the opponents or redouble a contract by his side that opponents have already doubled. 1976L. Sanders Hamlet Warning (1977) xxv. 216 ‘If you want to run up and take a look..’ ‘I'll pass. If you've seen one cannonball, you've seen them all.’ 1976Washington Post 15 Oct. A 23/3 The Washington Post passed. It made no mention whatsoever of what the committee had to say about the news media.
†c. To win in the game of passage, q.v. Obs.
1600Munday & Drayton Sir J. Oldcastle F iv, Hunt. I must haue the dice, What do we play at? Suff. Passage if ye please... Har. George, You are out. Giue me the dice, I passe for twentie pound. 1680[see passage 15]. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Passage, a Camp-Game, with three Dice, Doublets, making up Ten or more, to Pass or Win, any other Chances lose. 1725in New Cant. Dict.
d. In dominoes, to miss a turn when one does not have a suitable number.
1960R. C. Bell Board & Table Games I. 169 When one player has drawn all but the last two dominoes from the pool, and can neither make a ten, nor play a matador, he says, ‘pass’. Ibid. 170 When a player is unable to make a match he calls ‘pass’, and the next player tries.
27. a. To pass the ball at Football, etc.: see 46 b.
1888[see sense 46 b].
b. (U.S.) To throw and catch a ball: see quot.
1889Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore II. No. 5 In New England the ordinary term used to express the throwing and catching of a ball by two or more persons is pass. ‘Let's go out and pass’.
II. Transitive uses. (From I 12–19.)
* To go by (something). Trans. of I 12–13.
28. a. To go by, to proceed past (a person or thing); to leave behind or on one side as one goes on.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 273/50 Þo heo þe croiz i-passede hadden: a-ȝein to þe weie he cam. 13..Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 39 Swa þat nan houre passe the þat þou ne sall be swetely ocupyed. c1400Destr. Troy 564 The perlouse pointtes þat passe you behoues, Hit is vnlike any lede with his liffe pas. 1461J. Paston in P. Lett. II. 3 There have not passid Thetford, not passyng cccc. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. ii. 31 b, [We] followed on along the coast..to passe the cape Malee. 1615Chapman Odyss. vi. 306 Thus, passing him, she to the virgins went. 1784Cowper Task iv. 211 Time, as he passes us, has a dove's wing, Unsoil'd, and swift, and of a silken sound. 1842Tennyson Sir Galahad 81 So pass I hostel, hall, and grange. Mod. Many carriages passed the door. I never pass the spot without thinking of him.
b. To get the other side of; to avoid, escape. Obs. or dial.
c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4603 To passe þat persecucioune. 1894R. Reid Poems 88 (E.D.D.) The herds wad gang five mile aboot Tae pass this lanely brae.
29.
†a. fig. To go by without attending to; to leave unnoticed; to neglect, disregard, omit. Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 448 Wedding wiþ þes newe bilawis, passinge þe wedding wiþ goddis lawe, makiþ þes newe rotun sectis. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 258 If you fondly passe our proffer'd offer. 1607― Cor. ii. iii. 207 You should haue ta'ne th' aduantage of his Choller, And pass'd him vnelected. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §29, I wonder how the curiosity of wiser heads could pass that great and indisputable Miracle, the cessation of Oracles. 1645Evelyn Diary 21 May, We dined at Sienna, where we could not passe admiring the great church.
b. To omit in narration, to leave unmentioned.
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxiii. 156 Other goodly ordinances, which I passe with silence. 1616R. C. Times Whistle i. 469 To passe the papist and the Lutheran, Their trans and consubstantiation. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 239 Nor must we pass untold what Arms they wield. Ibid. iii. 415, I pass the Wars that spotted Linx s make With their fierce Rivals, for the Females sake. 1890Times 6 Dec. 12/4 We may pass the cleaning-rod and the downhill position; they are not of much consequence.
c. U.S. To omit payment of (a dividend, etc.).
1870J. K. Medbery Men & Mysteries Wall St. 137 To ‘pass’ a dividend... A dividend is said to be passed when the directors vote against declaring it. 1890Financial News 7 July, A few days ago the National Bank of ― passed its interim dividend, and now..the Banco Nacional of ― has suspended specie payments. 1903Forum (N.Y.) Oct. 209 Concerns which not only passed dividends..but went bankrupt. 1965Perry & Ryder Thomson's Dict. Banking (ed. 11) 422/2 Passing a dividend, a term used when a company decides not to pay a dividend.
†d. to pass one's flag (Naval), to decline promotion to flag rank, and become a retired Captain. Obs.
1805Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VII. 41 When you passed your Flag, I wrote my regret that the Service was to lose your abilities at Sea.
** To go through, across, or over (something).
30. a. To go from side to side of, or across, to cross (a sea, channel, river, barrier, frontier, mountain-range); also (less frequently), to go through, traverse (a forest, way, street).
to pass the pikes: see pike.
c1290Beket 1773 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 157 For godes loue: ne passe nouȝt þe se. a1300Cursor M. 12375 Þan he yode þe flum to pass. c1380Sir Ferumb. 3523 So þat god me graunty grace, þe brigge of Mantrible saf to pace. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas viii. ii. (1558) 3 b, They of Almayne the Alpes dyd pace. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 14 The fyrst people..so entred & passed the reed see. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 36 They..are..pointed at commonly as they passe the streetes. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. v. 33 They pas the bitter waues of Acheron. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iii. 24 The waies are dangerous to passe. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 776 To keep These Gates for ever shut, which none can pass Without my op'ning. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. 23 They..measure their way in these countreys, by the time they spend in passing it. 1743T. Jones in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 405, 15,000 men..had passed the bridge at Aschaffenburg. 1819Byron Juan ii. cv, He could, perhaps, have pass'd the Hellespont, As once..Leander, Mr. Ekenhead, and I did. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 221 At Cambridge the river and the marshy ground beyond had to be passed.
b. Of a book or printed work: To go through (the printing-press, or successive editions). ? Obs.
1665Phil. Trans. I. 104 Which hath already so far passed the Press. 1792Munchausen's Trav. Pref. 4 This Work..has passed several editions within a short period.
†31. To pierce, to penetrate: said of a spear or other weapon, also of the person driving it. Obs.
1588Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 331 Their weapons are strong bowes and arrowes..wherwith they will pierce and passe a shirt of mayle or plate coate. 1630Capt. Smith Trav. & Adv. 12 At the sound of the charge, he passed the Turke throw the sight of his Beaver, face, head, and all. 1715–20Pope Iliad xvi. 567 From strong Patroclus' hand the javelin fled, And pass'd the groin of valiant Thrasymed.
32. a. fig. To go or come through in the way of a course of study or treatment, experience or suffering; esp. to experience, undergo, endure, put up with, suffer. Now usually pass through (58 b).
a1340Hampole Psalter cxxiii. 1 Þaim þat ere passid þe perils of þis warld. c1400Destr. Troy 12704 Thies passet the perellis of the pale ythes, Houit on the hegh sea, held hom o ferre. 1563–7Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 12 In thre ȝeris thyr regentis sal pas be degreis the hail cours of dialectic, logic, physik, and metaphysik. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. xv. 39 b, Hauing past many troubles and daungers upon the sea. 1588Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 252 The Spaniardes..remained a good while, and passed great heate. 1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 132 The Storie of my life, From yeare to yeare: the Battaile, Sieges, Fortune, That I haue past. 1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox v. 249 Withdrawing himself secretly out of that Province (where he had passed so many perills). 1755J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 191 After having past the previous ceremonies. 1849M. Arnold Consolation ii, And countless beings Pass countless moods.
b. to pass one's time, life, etc.: see 44.
33. To get through the process of being considered, examined, and approved.
a. Said of a measure approved by or carried in Parliament; hence, to be agreed to, accepted, sanctioned by (anybody). to pass the seals, to receive royal (or other) sanction or ratification expressed by sealing.
1429Rolls of Parlt. IV. 343/2 In alle thynges that owith to passe and be agreed be the seide Counseill. 1607Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 29 Hath he not pass'd the Noble, and the Common? 1667–8Pepys Diary 5 Feb., An Act of Comprehension is likely to pass this Parliament, for admitting of all persuasions in religion to the public observation of their particular worship. 1670Ld. Roos in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 14 My Bill hath passed the Lords House and was this day read in the House of Commons. 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4728/3 Their Commissions are passing the Seals accordingly. 1725Berkeley Let. to Prior 3 June Wks. 1871 IV. 111 Yesterday the Charter passed the Privy Seal. 1771Junius Lett. lxiv. 327 These bills passed the house of lords..such bills could never have passed the house of commons without his knowledge. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §335 Estimates..were approved, and passed the common seal of the Corporation.
b. Said of a person or thing that goes satisfactorily through a test, trial, or examination: to undergo and come out successfully; to come up to the standard required by (the examiners or examination); to be allowed by.
1536Cromwell Let. 6 Dec. in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 38 This maner of dealing..is suche as I am right sory to see pass you that shuld be a man of honestie. 1599Chapman Hum. Days Mirth Plays 1873 I. 63 Then have you passed the ful list of experiment. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. ii. iii. (1712) 47 There is nothing in Nature but what passes the Approbation of a Knowing Principle. 1712Steele Spect. No. 438 ⁋3 All things among Men of Sense and Condition should pass the Censure, and have the Protection, of the Eye of Reason. 1832Austin Jurispr. (1879) II. xlvi. 808 On the bales..being weighed over or ‘passing the scale’. 1858Hogg Veg. Kingd. 616 All [Russian Rhubarb] that does not pass this examination is burned. 1885Manch. Exam. 11 Nov. 3/1 Very few..could pass even the most elementary examination. a1901Besant Five Years' Tryst (1902) 26 You'll pass your exams with distinction; you'll get appointments.
c. to pass muster: see muster.
*** To go beyond, surpass, exceed. (fr. I. 19.)
34. To go beyond (a point or place); to overshoot (a mark); to outrun, outstrip in a race; to rise above, surmount.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 164 Soþnesse..seide bote luyte, Bote prikede on his palfrey and passede hem alle. 1375Barbour Bruce xx. 432 The lord dowglass..passit wes All the folk that wes chassand then. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2231 Ffor gentil mercy oghte to passen right. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 8 In þis ile es þe mount Caucase þat passez þe clowdes. a1425tr. Higden Harl. Contin. (Rolls) VII. 505 The see overflowide and passide the clyves. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxiv. 140 Mount Athos is so high, that it passeth the skies. 1871R. Ellis Catullus iv. 4 Nor yet a timber o'er the waves alertly flew She might not aim to pass it.
35. To go beyond or outside of; to overstep (bounds, limits); to transgress. fig. To go beyond (one's province, warrant, knowledge, etc.).
c1320Cast. Love 1057 Þat hose passede Godes heste, He scholde be myn. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 102 He þat passeþ þat poynt is a-postata in þe ordre. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 346 Þis stiward passiþ his power, & failiþ in governaunce of þe Chirche. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Armys (S.T.S.) 119 And haldis it nevertheles in his rycht reule, that is, pas nocht his mesure. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 111 b, Let hym loke..that in no wyse he doe passe the boundes of his commission. 1604T. Wright Passions (1620) 114 Let not the cobler passe his pantofle. 1607Chapman Bussy d'Ambois Plays 1873 II. 6 A poore staid fisherman, that neuer past His countries sight. 1754Gray Progr. Poesy 98 He pass'd the flaming bounds of Place and Time. 1784Cowper Task vi. 192 He marks the bounds which Winter may not pass, And blunts his pointed fury.
36. To exceed or be beyond the compass or range of (any faculty or expression); to be too great for, transcend.
1382Wyclif Phil. iv. 7 And the pees of God, that passith al witt, kepe ȝoure hertis and vndirstondingis in Crist Jhesu oure Lord. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) v. i. (1859) 73 Hit passed his wytte, thenne muste hit nedes passen the power of his speche. 1589R. Robinson Gold. Mirr. (1851) 6 It passeth all my skill the halfe for to indite. 1624R. Davenport City Nightcap i. i. in Hazl. Dodsley XIII. 106 Where each word stands so well-plac'd, that it passes Inquisitive detraction to correct. 1701Norris Ideal World i. vi. 364 It passes all comprehension to conceive such a thing. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 229 To express..that grief which passes show.
37. a. To surpass or excel in some quality; to surpass or exceed in degree. arch.
c1230Hali Meid. 43 Alswa passeð meiden onont te mihte of meidenhad, widewen & iweddede. c1300Beket 1031 For gold ne passeth noȝt in bounté so moche leode iwis, As dignité of preosthod passeth the lewed man þat is. 1380Lay Folks Catech. 61 (Lamb. MS.) Þis pater noster..passys oþer prayers. c1386Chaucer Prol. 448 Of clooth makyng..She passed hem of ypres & of Gaunt. c1450tr. De Imitatione i. i. 2 The doctrine of crist passiþ þe doctrine of all seintes & holy men. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 244 None coulde passe hym in beaute. 1539Bible (Great) 2 Sam. i. 26 Thy loue to me was wonderfull, passyng the loue of wemen. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. ii. 83 Ethiopia passeth Affrike and Barbarie in heat. 1704Collect. Voy. (Churchill) III. 25/2 The Milk..has a sweetness..which passes ordinary Milk. 1850Neale Med. Hymns (1867) 17 Of rival towns thou passest all.
b. To exceed in number, measurement, or amount. Now rare.
a1300Cursor M. 1237 Adam had pastd nine hundret yere, Nai selcut þof he wex vnfere. 1375Barbour Bruce v. 198 Thai in hy assemblit then, Passand, y trow, a thousand men. c1440Generydes 5954 Ffrom hens it passith not a myle or twayne. 1468Sir J. Paston in Lett. II. 329 The utter⁓most pryse had not passyd v. mark. 1592Davies Immort. Soul viii. xx. (1714) 54 Tho' they in Number pass the Stars of Heav'n. 1618Chapman Hesiod 183 Let Jove steep the grass Three days together, so he do not pass An ox's hoof in depth. 1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 164 The whole chest should not much pass four feet in height.
†38.
a. To get beyond (a stage or condition of life or existence). Obs. (exc. as fig. from 34).
c1315Shoreham Poems (E.E.T.S.) 74/2111 On wenddeþ, þoþer abyde schel [H]wet oþer passeþ age By kende. 14..Tundale's Vis. 1464 A blissed soule y may þe calle For þou art passed thy paynes alle. c1450Gesta Rom. x. 33 (Harl. MS.) Withoute dowte, whenne we shul passy þis life,..he shal ȝelde to vs þe fowrefold. c1510Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) E vj b, When he passed childe, And come to mannes estate. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 20, I am passed my purgatory, and I am saued. 1552Huloet, Passe boyes age, ex ephæbis, uel pueris excedere. 1611Bible 1 Cor. vii. 36 If she passe the floure of her age. 1685Evelyn Diary 15 Sept., On purpose that they might whilst young pass that fatal disease.
b. To go beyond or exceed (a defined time).
c1384Chaucer H. Fame i. 392 How he forswore hym ful falsly,..And falsly gan hys terme pace. 1607Middleton Mich. Term ii. iii. 342, I never pass my month, you know.
****
39. to pass the lips, † the mouth of: to come out of the mouth of, be spoken or uttered by.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 115 b, Kepe it in the, that it passe not thy mouth. c1611Chapman Iliad i. 493 Iove at this sat silent; not a word In long space pass'd him. 1755H. Walpole Lett. to Mann 15 June, I will describe him to you, if I can, but don't let it pass your lips. 1819Shelley Prom. Unb. i. 219 Mother, let not aught Of..evil pass again My lips.
III. Causative uses.
*
40. a. To cause or enable (a person or thing) to go, proceed, or make his way anywhere; to carry, convey, send: usually with prep. or adv. specifying the direction, etc.; esp. to convey across a river, a ferry, etc., to transport.
a1533Ld. Berners Huon clvi. 597 Me thynke ye be none of the fayrey, wherfore I am not contente that I haue passed you ouer. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxiv. 140 The way whereby Xerxes passed his army. 1600E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 30 The most of them were barkes to passe horse and munition. 1611Cotgr., Pile trigone, a triangle peece of yron to be thrown at a ring, through which he that passes it wins the game. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 126, I sent to the Havaldar, to know when he would Pass us up the Gaot. 1722De Foe Plague (Rtldg.) 164 Every vagrant Person may..be..pass'd back to their last legal Settlement. 1798I. Allen Hist. Vermont 254 A canal..sufficient to pass boats of 25 tons burthen into said lake.
†b. refl. = intr. to pass, proceed, depart, cross.
c1500Lancelot 362 So the king proponit And for to pas hyme one the morne disponit. 1615Chapman Odyss. xiv. 260 He pass'd him for the Pylian shore to find His long-lost father.
†c. With double object: To send or convey (a thing) over or across (a place). Obs. rare.
1512W. Knight in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 199 Which can shew yow..with what besynes thei [the Spaniards] haue passyd thaire Artiliarie the grete mountaynys.
41. a. To make (a thing) go in any specific manner or direction; to move, draw, push (a thing); as to pass one's hand over, to pass one's eye over (to glance rapidly or cursorily over), to pass a wet sponge over (often fig. to obliterate the memory of), to pass the sweeper over a floor, to pass a rope or string round anything.
1705Addison Italy 434, I had only time to pass my Eye over the Medals, which are in great Number. 1853M. Arnold Sohrab 94 O'er his chilly limbs his woollen coat He passed. 1859Jephson Brittany ii. 21 Washing their hands by having water passed over them. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To pass,..to take certain turns of a rope round a yard, etc. 1868Yates Rock Ahead ii. ii, He had passed the wet sponge over the slate containing any records of his early life. 1896Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 437 If..the nurse cannot pass the catheter into the orifice at once. Mod. Pass a rope round its hind legs.
†b. = pass through: to pass through a sieve, etc.
1530Palsgr. 654/2, Je sasse... I left hym passynge of synnamon. 1639J. W. tr. Guibert's Char. Physic. ii. 66 Two..searses or sieves to passe bitter things.
42. To cause to pass or go by. to pass in review: (orig.) Mil. To cause (troops) to march by for inspection; hence fig. to cause writings or proceedings to pass before the eye or mind for examination or scrutiny.
1852Grote Greece ii. lxix. IX. 24 Here..Cyrus, halting three days, passed the army in review. 1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. ii. (1875) 52 The works of other writers..might also..be passed under the Academy's review. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 162 Passing lightly in review What seemed hits and what seemed misses in a certain fence-play.
43. To cause or allow (a person or thing) to go past or through some barrier or obstruction.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. ii. ii. 57 Madam, if't please the Queene to send the babe, I know not what I shall incurre, to passe it, Hauing no warrant. 1867Macgregor Voy. Alone (1868) 39, I had letters..for the highest authorities to pass the Rob Roy as an article entered for the Paris Exhibition. 1884Graphic 30 Aug. 215/1 The men who pass tobacco, wine, and spirits into England..by contraband.
44. a. To cause or allow to pass or go by, to spend (time, or any portion of time, one's life, a season, etc.): sometimes merely in reference to staying through or to the end, as to pass the winter at a place; but oftener with reference to occupation or mode, as to pass one's time in sleep, pass a pleasant evening, pass an anxious day. Cf. pass away (60 f), pass forth (62 c).
1390Gower Conf. I. 115 Thus passen thei that wofull nyht. Ibid. III. 316 Thus passen thei a day or tuo. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 2 O, I haue past a miserable night, So full of fearefull Dreames, of vgly sights [etc.]. 1674Boyle Excell. Theol. i. i. 35 A very pleasant way of passing one's time. 1709–10Addison Tatler No. 153 ⁋15 A Friend..invites me to pass the Evening at his House. 1779J. Moore View Soc. Fr. II. lvi. 63 He generally passes the summer in the country. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxiv, Those whose lives are passed in humble everyday work. 1860Thackeray Round. Papers, Lazy Idle Boy (1876) 1, I had occasion to pass a week in the autumn in the little old town of Coire. 1878J. C. Morison Gibbon 2 The longest period he ever passed at school were two years at Westminster.
†b. ? To cause to pass away, dispel. Obs. rare.
1565Cooper Thesaurus, Acquiescere in re aliqua,..to take delight and pleasure in: to passe his sorow and phantasies.
**
†45.
a. To carry through its stages, transact; to bring to an end, to accomplish or execute (a matter, a business); to complete (a voyage). Obs.
c1450Cov. Myst. 89 We beseche ȝow of ȝoure pacyens, That we pace these materes so lythly away. 1473Rolls of Parlt. VI. 66/1 In cas all other things were thoroughly passed and concluded betwixt his Highnes and theym. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iv. 57 Then at my lodging,..there this night Weele passe the businesse priuately and well. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. i, If you but meditate of what is past, And what you plot to passe. 1605B. Jonson Volpone iii. v, I told his son, brought, hid him here, Where he might hear his father pass the deed. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. x. 403 The contract being past, it was some satisfaction..to be certain that his preparations were now going on.
b. To cause or allow (anything proposed) to proceed, esp. after examination or scrutiny; to carry or get carried (a measure in Parliament, a resolution in a meeting); to agree to, declare correct, confirm, sanction, endorse.
1549–62Sternhold & Hopkins Ps. cxix. iii. 24 They serve in stead of councellours my matters for to passe. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia 185 The greatest matter passed, was a Proclamation against the spoile of Cahowes. 1666–7Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 206 His Majesty came yesterday to the Lords' House, and there past five publick Bills. 1669in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 104 Severall rectoryes and impropriations..have been passed into patent in the name of his Grace. 1705S. Sewall Diary 12 Nov., Brooklin is pass'd to be a Township by the Council. 1707Watts Hymn, ‘Life is the time’ vi, There are no acts of pardon pass'd In the cold grave to which we haste. 1799Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 263 Their majority will pass the bill. 1836Penny Cycl. V. 296/2 Boyle..clearly proved that he passed his accounts in an irregular and dishonest manner. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. vi. 663 He was required to pass under the Great Seal the requisite authority to Commissioners. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. II. x. 483 They began..to pass decrees in utter defiance of the royal authority. 1878Montagu Browne Pract. Taxidermy ii. 21, I have submitted the foregoing to a practical birdcatcher,..and he has ‘passed’ it as correct. 1885Law Rep. 29 Ch. Div. 796 A scheme of arrangement passed by the shareholders. 1892A. S. Wilkins in Bookman Oct. 26/2 He had already passed for the press all the sheets of the present volume.
c. To allow or enable (a person) to pass an examination; to get (him) through.
1833Marryat P. Simple xxxviii, Come Mr. Simple, stand up again... Don't be afraid, we wish to pass you. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxvii, I'll pass you..I can conscientiously report you a healthy subject. 1889Nature 18 Apr. 577 His first duty..is to pass his men; and as our systems of examination are at present ordered, the passing is more a question of the facts than of the principles.
†d. To allow (something) to pass or go unchecked or without notice; to overlook, excuse, pass over. Obs.
c1611Chapman Iliad iii. 114 An old man will consent to pass things past, and what succeeds He looks into. 1768Woman of Honor II. 212 Pass me this digression. 1802H. Martin Helen of Glenross I. 247, I tell you, I will not, cannot pass that boy's bravado.
***
46. a. To cause to go from one to another; to hand over, hand round, hand, transfer. to pass the buck: see buck n.9; to pass the word (colloq., orig. Naut.), to convey information orally; to issue an oral order or instruction.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iv. 45 If..like a Father you will deale with him, And passe my daughter a sufficient dower, The match is made, and all is done. a1716South Serm. (1727) IV. 75 When God makes a Man wealthy and potent, he passes a double Obligation upon him. 1824–8T. Hook Sayings & Doings 222 (Stratm.) Shall I pass you a spoon? 1833Marryat P. Simple xxvii, Desire the sentry to pass the word for the butcher; I want to speak with him. Ibid. xxxv, Pass the word to reduce the cartridges. 1843S. Leech 30 Yrs. from Home ix. 186 Her officer..so exasperated our captain that he passed the word to fire into her. Ibid. x. 218, I heard the order from an officer, of ‘Pass the word for the boy Leech’. 1849Thackeray Pendennis ii, The intelligence was ‘passed round’..in an instant. 1884Naval Encycl. 636/2 To pass the word for a man is to summon him by name, the cry being repeated by the boatswain's mates on all decks. a1901Besant Five Years' Tryst, etc. (1902) 117 They passed buckets of water from hand to hand. 1901G. B. Shaw Caesar & Cleopatra ii. 133 Pass the word to the guard; and fetch my armor. 1910H. Y. Moffat From Ship's-Boy to Skipper iii. 39 He called to the sentry: ‘Pass the word for the boy Moffat.’ 1924J. Buchan Three Hostages vi. 96, I will visit it as a man..to see about the meter... Macgillivray will pass the word for me. 1946E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh iii. 184 They know I was framed. And once they've passed the word, it's as good as done, law or no law. 1961Sat. Even. Post 3 June 60/2 Hundreds of men are required to pass the word to the button pushers and to push the buttons.
b. Football, etc. To transfer (the ball) to another player on the same side. Also absol. (sense 27 a). Cf. pass n.2 12.
c1865F. Wood Beeton's Football [Assoc.] Rules 36 No player shall carry the ball, hold it, throw it, pass it to another with his hands, or lift it from the ground with his hands. 1888Irvine, etc. Football, Laws Rugby 9 It is lawful for any player who has the ball to throw it back towards his own goal, or to pass it back to any player of his own side who is at the time behind him. Ibid. 71 Never pass blindly, and be very chary of passing at all near your own goal. Never throw forward, for it is illegal. 1889Pall Mall G. 4 Oct. 3/1 Seven years ago hockey was an utterly unscientific game... The Moulsey Club was the first to adopt a passing game. 1900Fegan, etc. Football etc., Hockey 135 The ball may often be passed as usefully from forwards to halves, or from halves to backs, as in the contrary direction.
c. To put into circulation, give currency to (coin, or the like): esp. used of putting base coin into circulation. Also fig.
1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 237 One whom his mistresse burdened with some vnkinde speeches which he had past of her. 1634Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) To Rdr., There hath beene many scandalous and false reports past upon the Countrey. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xix. 155 This bank-note..he was afraid to pass, till all inquiry had blown over. 1864Daily Tel. 28 Nov., Utterers of base coin have a trick of passing a bad shilling between two good ones.
47. Law. To convey, make over, in legal form or with legal effect.
1587Ld. Burleigh in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 204 You passe..a lease to the Ladie Stafford. 1690Locke Govt. ii. xvi. §186 Nor does it at all alter the Case..no more than it excuses the Force, and passes the Right, when I..deliver my Purse myself to a Thief, who demands it with a Pistol at my Breast. 1891Law Rep. Weekly Notes 201/1 The delivery of the key of a trunk was held to pass the trunk and its contents.
48. a. To give in pledge (one's word, promise, oath); † to pledge (one's faith, honour, etc.).
1469Sir J. Paston in Lett. II. 369 Ȝe wryteth in your letter that ye durst not passe your credens. 1528Wriothesley in Pocock Rec. Ref. I. xli. 79 To pass his promise on such sort..might make much broylery. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 49 Your oath is past, to passe away from these. 1601― Twel. N. i. v. 86 Sir Toby will be sworn that I am no Fox, but he wil not passe his word for two pence that you are no Foole. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier i. 114 He [King of Sweden] had passed his Honour to the Norembergers, that he would not leave them. 1837Keble Chr. Y. 2 Sun. Lent viii, That Name, by which Thy faithful oath is past. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 329 Half the sum was raised,..and Dundee is said to have passed his word for the remainder. 1896Edith Thompson in Monthly Packet Christm. No. 97 He had passed his word of honour..that he would report himself at the fort of Haraf.
†b. To give or tender (a vote). Obs.
1642G. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 298 These are the votes.., which passed shall be published in a Declaration to the kingdom. 1685in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 266 Everie person..shall..passe his vote when required,..the town clerke shall..proceed from person to person till the whole Councell have passed their votes.
****
†49. To send forth or out, to emit. to pass the ghost: to give up the ghost, to die. Obs. rare.
c1400Destr. Troy 8216 Tha he gird to the ground & the gost past. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. iii, Here is a vent to passe my sighes. 1621Quarles Argalus & P. (1678) 46 She past a sigh, and said, O ask not who.
50. To discharge from the body by excretion.
1698Sir R. Sibbald in Phil. Trans. XX. 266 He hath past none by the Yard since he past these the other way. 1799Med. Jrnl. II. 264 She passes her stools naturally. 1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 192 He..was incapable of passing a motion by any means. 1899J. Cagney tr. Jaksch's Clin. Diagnosis vii. (ed. 4) 292 Hairs have been known to be passed with this fluid.
†51. To discharge (a volley). Obs.
1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1628/1 One of them..shooting a-head and passing his Broad-side,..fell a stern, by her Lee side.
52. a. To give utterance or expression to; to utter, pronounce (speech, criticism, censure); rarely, to put (a question). Sometimes, to exchange (words). to pass a (or the) remark (colloq.): to make an observation or comment, esp. one that is gratuitously sarcastic or depreciatory; freq. pl.
1615Chapman Odyss. i. 274 On him again the grey-eyed Maid did pass This kind reply. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 38 Tyrone..saluted his Lordship standing on the other banke, and there they passed many speeches. 1654tr. Scudery's Curia Pol. 35 To passe a censure, or to whisper seditiously against the Actions of Princes. 1694Atterbury Serm. (1726) I. 186 A Way of exposing Things sacred and serious, by passing a bold Jest upon them. a1698South Serm. III. i. 30 By all this (it seems) our Saviour was only teaching those about Him, how to pass Complements upon Almighty God. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xi, No man shall brook life after he has passed an affront on Douglas. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 6 They are dissatisfied with the free criticisms which the Athenian passes upon the laws of Minos. 1899R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. xxi. 218, I didn't sye I 'ad nothin' to sye to 'im. I only passed the remark. 1924Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 157 ‘'E could pass remarks, too!’ Humberstall recited..a fragment..ending with, ‘You lazy-minded, lousy-headed, long-trousered, perfumed perookier.’ Ibid., Macklin had a wonderful way o' passing remarks on a man's civil life; an' he put it about that our B.S.M. had run a dope an' dolly-shop with a Chinese woman. 1929J. B. Priestley Good Companions ii. v. 370 ‘Dewn't you be so personal’, said Mr. Jerningham... ‘You're always passing remawks.’ 1933C. Mackenzie Water on Brain x. 142, I only passed the remark to Mr Wigmore yesterday, ‘Mr Wigmore,’ I said, ‘people are getting pre-war again.’ 1934R. Ferguson Celebrated Sequels 134 Were they or were they not laughing and passing remarks? 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake 463 He is looking aged with his pebbled eyes, and johnnythin too, from livicking onpidgins' ifs with puffins' ands, he's been slanderising himself, but I pass no remark. 1941E. Bowen Look at Roses 103, I merely passed the remark. There's no harm in my passing a remark occasionally. 1958J. Cannan And be a Villain iii. 70 I'll tell him you've broken off your engagement and not to pass any remarks. 1962― All is Discovered ii. 43, I passed a remark about her being indoors. I don't like her. 1975C. Storr Chinese Egg xxvi. 168 He called her Fatty..and passed remarks about her figure.
b. To utter or pronounce judicially. (Cf. 21, 22.)
1590Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 148 Thou art adiudged to the death, And passed sentence may not be recal'd. 1600― A.Y.L. i. iii. 86 Firm and irreuocable is my doombe, Which I haue past vpon her. 1700Dryden Palamon & Arcite i. 266 If our doom be past in bonds to lie. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 265 When sentence of death was passed upon him. 1894Hall Caine Manxman vi. viii, The Deemster in the half-lit court was passing sentence.
c. In various phrases, as to pass the time of day (dial. or colloq.), to exchange salutations or gossip in passing; so, to pass (a) good morning, pass the good day, pass the compliments of the day.
1836A. A. Parker Trip to West 165 Two Indians..halted within a few rods of us, stared a moment, and then civilly passed the time of day. 1851[see time n. 28 b]. 1875Sussex Gloss. s.v. Time of Day, ‘I doänt know any more of him than just to pass the time o' day’. 1882B. Harte Flip iii, ‘Dropping in to pass the time of day’ with her father. 1890L. D'Oyle Notches 180 She had simply passed him a pleasant ‘Good morning’. 1894Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 10/1 Nothing has happened to prevent my passing the compliments of the day with Mrs. Crombie. 1936‘F. Gerald’ Millionaire in Memories xii. 316, I was riding home after doing some work on my racecourse and I pulled up at Swanson's swagger camp to pass the time of day. 1960G. Durrell Zoo in Luggage viii. 192, I was passing the time of day with the garage man. 1965N. Gulbenkian Pantaraxia xi. 230 Joe Boyle, one of the directors of the Royal Dutch Shell..went to see my father, as though merely to pass the time of day. 1965Listener 23 Sept. 453/2 The English chaps would pretend..to be very friendly and jovial and pass the time of day and that sort of thing. 1978M. Girouard Life in Eng. Country House v. 147 The King..was then conveyed to the prince's bedchamber, where he passed the time of day for a few minutes.
*****
†53. Fencing. To make or execute (a thrust).
1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. iii. 26 To see thee fight, to see thee foigne, to..see thee passe thy puncto, thy stock, thy reuerse, thy distance, thy montant.
54. To perform the pass on a pack of cards: see pass n.2 10.
1859L. Wraxall tr. Mem. J. E. Robert-Houdin i. viii. 157 He also said, in allusion to the ace of hearts, which he had ‘passed’ on one of the most beautiful women in the room: ‘Will you be kind enough, madam, to lay your hand on your heart?’ 1884St. James's Gaz. 5 Dec. 5/2 [To] prevent him from watching the operator too closely when engaged in ‘readying’ and ‘passing’ the cards. Ibid., Striking feats of dexterous ‘readying’ and ‘passing’ which his companion performed.
IV. With prepositions and adverbs.
* With prepositions.
Pass (intrans., trans., or causal) may be followed by any preposition of motion or direction, with its object, both words having their own senses. Sometimes the prep. appears to be more closely united with the verb, so as to form with it a verbal phrase, often expressible by a single verb with its object. Thus pass across = cross, traverse, pass down = descend, pass into = enter, pass up = ascend, etc. Of these, the following are the more important:
pass at ―. See 23 c.
55. pass beyond ―.
a. See simple senses and beyond prep.
b. To pass the limits of, exceed, transcend.
1819Keats Lamia ii. 32 His spirit pass'd beyond its golden bourn Into the noisy world. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 257 No effort of reflection will enable us to pass beyond the limits of our own faculties.
56. pass by ―.
†a. To go through or by way of. Obs.
13..K. Alis. 1320 Anon they..Passith by Tire, and by Cidoyne,..Alle til they come to Babiloyne. 1390Gower Conf. III. 63 Wher as sche passeth be the strete. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 61 [They] assauted the Alyens as they passed by the stretes. 1573–80Baret Alv. P 162 As we came to this Citie, we passed by Lions, where we soiourned two daies.
b. To go past; to pass; = 28.
13..K. Alis. 6658 Heo passeden by a quenes lond, That hette Candace, Y undurstond. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 340 Thanne sholde he se ful many a figure pace By his Mirour. 1481Caxton Reynard xxiii. (Arb.) 54, I supposed to haue passed by hym peasibly toward this feste. 1550Crowley Epigr. 34 b, As he paste by a pasture most pleasaunte to se. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 39 Please it our Generall to passe strangely by him, As if he were forgot. 1711Addison Spect. No. 63 ⁋6, I heard several double Rhymes as I passed by them. 1850S. Dobell Roman, Chamouni, If Thou..hast..passed by The sleeping savage dreadful still in sleep.
c. To pass without stopping, or without notice; to take no notice of, disregard, omit: see 61 c.
pass for ―. See 5, 23. pass into ―. See 7. pass of ―. See 10, 10 c, 23 b. pass on ―. See 5 c, 21 b, c, 24.
57. pass over ―.
a. To cross above or on the surface of (a sea, river, or expanse); to cross, to traverse; = 30.
c1275Lay. 1341 Seyles drawe to toppe, leten lade þane wind, passi ouer bieres. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 228 Suþþe he ssulde mani lond over passi & wende. a1300Cursor M. 10120 Do me to passe þe dikes [v.r. diches] ouer. c1325Lai le Freine 141 The maide..passed ouer a wild heth. c1400Melayne 878 To Charls now will I torne agayne Þat passes ouer Mountayne & playne. c1440Promp. Parv. 376/2 Pacyn ovyr, transgredior. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iii. 19 It was a Louer, and his lasse,..That o're the greene corne feild did passe. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa Introd. 39 A man must beware how he passe ouer deepe riuers with them. 1749Apol. Life B.-M. Carew 125 Passing over this Ferry they came into Rhode Island. 1874J. W. Draper Hist. Conflict Relig. & Sci. vi. 161 The distance passed over in a voyage from Italy to the Gulf of Guinea.
fig.1887Bowen Virg. æneid ii. 284 O'er thy people and city, alas! what sorrows have passed. a1905Mod. A change passed over his countenance.
b. To pass the hand over.
1805Southey Madoc in W. xiv, He took a harp..and passing o'er its chords Made music. 1879E. Arnold Lt. Asia iii. (1883) 52 So sigh we, passing o'er the solemn strings.
†c. trans. To spend (time); = sense 44. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. III. 64 The queene..passeth over thilke nyht, Til it was on the morwe liht. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. i. 20 So that the reste of the life be passed ouer after the rule of Christ. 1577F. de L'isle's Legendarie A viij, He neuer medled with matters of estate but passed ouer his time in pleasure. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 198 Many times he pass'd over the Winter therein.
d. To pass a thing without dwelling upon it, or without notice or remark, to omit: see 67 e.
58. pass through ―.
a. To go from side to side of, to cross, traverse.
a1300Cursor M. 6265 Þe see on aiþer side þam stod,..Til þai war passed thoru þat flod. 1375Barbour Bruce xvi. 319 That he wes passit throu all Irland Fra end till end. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 746 Thisbe, And with a soun as softe as ony shryfte They lete here wordis thour the clift pace. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 12 b, Y⊇ people of god passyng through the same see drye fote. 1530Palsgr. 653/2 He shall passe thorowe fyre and water or he get it. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 62 Not cause their children to passe through the fire. 1709Steele Tatler No. 44 ⁋4 On Saturday last he passed through Staines. 1885C. Leudesdorf Cremona's Proj. Geom. 237 If two conics which are inscribed in a given quadrilateral pass through a given point.
fig.1639T. Brugis tr. Camus' Mor. Relat. 318 All the Idea's which passe thorow our mindes. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. i. 11 Abimelek gave greater credit to that information which passed through his eye.
b. In reference to times, stages, states, conditions, processes, actions, experiences, etc.
c1320Sir Beues (MS. A.) 1035 Erst þow schelt pase þourȝ min hond And þourȝ Morgelay, my gode brond! 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. viii. 11 [Thei] Han pardoun þorw Purgatorie to passen ful sone. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. iv. 211 Golde which hath often passed through the fire, keepes his colour. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 128 Men having passed thorough all sorts of animalls at last became Gods. 1711Addison Spect. No. 115 ⁋5 How many Hands must they pass through before they are fit for Use? 1747Gentl. Mag. XVII. 325 Having pass'd thro' his Degrees in Arts, he became domestick Chaplain to Dr Tho. Smith. 1865R. W. Dale Jew. Temp. xxi. (1877) 233 We..are passing through times of speculative unbelief.
c. To make or force a passage through; to penetrate; to pierce through; to shoot through, send a shot through.
14..in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 133 And thorow thi sowle schall a scharp swyrd pace. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxx, For he felte thorugh his herte pace The persyng stremys of hir eyen two. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 708 Throw platis of polist steill thair poyntis can pase. 1530Palsgr. 654/2 He passed thorowe his harnesse and his bodye at one shotte, il transpassa son harnoys et son corps a vng traict. Mod. The bullet passed through his shoulder.
fig.1638Junius Paint. Ancients 211 No man is able to passe through the secrets of Art,..unlesse he first overcome the pompe of vaine glorie.
d. causal. To cause (a thing) to pass or go through; to put, thrust, or impel through.
1530Palsgr. 654/2, I passe thorowe, as spyce..thorowe a sarce, or pepyr thorowe the querne, or meale thorowe a boulter. 1731Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope II. 67 The ground becomes frequently so hard, that twenty oxen are not sufficient to pass a plough through it. 1853A. Soyer Pantroph. 288 Take a flour sieve, and pass the cheese through it. 1857Borrow Rom. Rye xxxix, The principal component parts were burnt wine and rosemary, passed through an alembic. 1885Law Rep. 15 Q.B.D. 316 A catch..which prevented the pin, when passed through a slit, from repassing. 1898F. Montgomery Tony 20 Passing his arm through the strap of the window. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 848 The preparations being much reduced in virulence by passing the culture through rabbits. a1905Mod. A dragoon passed his sword through him.
e. To follow a ritual of going through a narrow opening in a natural object such as a cleft tree or rock, etc., in the belief that the object will prove a barrier to evil or will absorb illness. Also trans., in causal senses. Hence passing-through n.
1804Gentl. Mag. Oct. 909/1 Rowe's son was passed through the present tree in 1792, at the age of one or two. 1846Athenæum 5 Sept. 909/1 A second point arises upon the ‘passing through’... The passing through a cleft or aperture in a rock is a medical superstition..found in many countries. 1900C. Hose in Geogr. Jrnl. XVI. 45 The funeral procession climbed the mound on which the ceremony was situated, passing through the V of the cleft stick in single file. 1913J. G. Frazer Golden Bough: Balder the Beautiful (ed. 3) II. xi. 176 The words uttered by the mourners in passing through the cloven stick shew clearly that they believe the stick to act as a barrier or fence, on the further side of which they leave behind the ghost. Ibid. 184 In Scotland children who suffered from hectic fever and consumptive patients used to be healed by passing thrice through a circular wreath of woodbine. 1961C. Hole Encycl. Superstitions 21 A young ash⁓sapling was split, and the child was passed through it, three or nine times. 1968Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. CXII. 388/1 Passing-through rituals in the earth usually involved grassy terrain, where sod could be cut, piled, and arched to make a passageway. Ibid. 391/1 Prevention of disease by passing through seems more pronounced in passing through stones than in other kinds of rituals involving passing through.
pass upon ―. See 5 c, 21 c.
†59. pass with ―: to have done with, take no notice of. Obs. rare.
1641Nicholas Papers (Camden) 27 Neither have they gratifyed the kinge with the release of the lo. Montrosse or with the passing with the Ea. of Traquaire.
** With adverbs.
60. pass away.
a. See simple senses and away adv.b. intr. Of persons: To depart; also, to get or break away (as from restraint).
a1425Cursor M. 12975 (Trin.) Somme oþere vnswere shaltou say Ar I passe from þe away. c1430Syr Tryam. 317 The quene passyd awey & fledd On fote. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 48 But, when he saw the Damsell passe away, He left his stond, and her pursewd apace. 1879E. Arnold Lt. Asia iv. (1883) 88 But that ox-king..Trampled the warders down, and passed away.
c. To die, expire.
c1375Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B) 112 God lord graunt..rest and pese þat lastis ay to cristen soules passed away. 1806Southey Lett. (ed. Warter) I. 366 Immediately as he uttered the words he passed away. 1892Law Times XCII. 144/2 Mr. Richard Williams..passed away on the 21st ult., at the great age of ninety years.
d. Of time: To elapse, come to an end.
a1425Cursor M. 20858 (Trin.) Tyme passeþ faste awey. 1711Addison Spect. No. 93 ⁋2 The Moments that are to pass away before the happy Meeting. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest iv, Thus passed the winter away so rapidly, that [etc.].
e. Of things: To pass out of existence, come to an end, cease to be, be dissolved, perish.
13..S. Paula in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 4/1 Precious stones Þat wiþ þis world and eorþe here Passen awey al in fere. 1539Bible (Great) 2 Pet. iii. 10 The heauens shall passe awaye. 1557N. T. (Genev.) Matt. xxiv. 35 Heauen and earth shall passe awaye [Wyclif passe, Tindale perisshe], but my wordes shal not passe awaye. 1814Southey Ode War Amer. xiii, Dominion passeth like a cloud away. 1845M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 26 His anger passed away. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 59 All the..convictions of the old world were passing away, never to return. 1884Manch. Exam. 20 May 5/2 The fears of a general crisis are passing away.
f. trans. To spend (time, etc.); to while away, to pass: emphatic of 44.
c1550Lusty Juventus in Hazl. Dodsley II. 46 What shall I do now to pass away the day? 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 139 Going than to Wittemberge, they passed away the rest of the wynter there. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 25 Why I..Haue no delight to passe away the time. 1665Earl of Dorset Song Written at Sea vii, To pass our tedious hours away. 1711Addison Spect. No. 106 ⁋1 An Invitation..to pass away a Month with him in the Country. 1848Thackeray Lett. 12 Aug., One day is passed away here very like its defunct predecessor.
†g. To transfer away; to relinquish, surrender (rights, etc.); to convey away (property). Obs.
1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxi. 111 What Rights we passe away, when we make a Common-wealth. 1690Locke Govt. ii. viii. §116 Because our Fathers or Progenitors passed away their natural Liberty. a1692H. Pollexfen Disc. Trade (1697) 28 A Man that is to pass away Lands, or Goods. 1781Cowper Hope 11 Riches are passed away from hand to hand.
61. pass by.
a. intr. To go or proceed past; to move on without stopping; to flow past.
c1430Syr Tryam. 278 There the quene schulde passe by. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 301 The Englishmen passed by without anye approchyng. 1611Bible Lam. i. 12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that passe by? 1712Steele Spect. No. 398 ⁋1 He saw Robin the Porter..passing by. 1799Southey Ruined Cottage Wks. 1838 III. 32 The countrymen..leaning o'er the bridge,..would all look up When she pass'd by. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xix, There twice a day the Severn fills; The salt sea-water passes by.
b. fig. and in reference to time.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 1026 But I lete all his storie passen by, Of Custance is my tale specially. a1821Keats Sonn., Human Seasons, To let fair things Pass by unheeded, as a threshold brook. 1885Manch. Weekly Times 20 June 5/5 A generation would pass by before the adversaries..would find their way back to power.
c. trans. To go past (a thing or person) without stopping, or without taking notice; to fail to notice, to overlook; to omit; to take no notice of, dismiss from consideration, disregard, ignore; = pass over, 67 e, f.
When the object is a n., it usually comes after by, so that the construction can be analysed as that of an intrans. vb. with a preposition and its object, as in to pass by his eldest son: cf. to pass him by.
[a1300Cursor M. 15634 Quer i sal þis calice drinc, or i sal pass þar-bi?] 1560Bible (Genev.) Prov. xix. 11 His glorie is to passe by an offence. 1611Ld. T. Howard in Harington's Nugæ Ant. (ed. Park 1804) I. 393 He was overcharged with confusion, and passed by admiring the dressing of the horse. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 77 Better to wink at, and passe by an iniurie. 1658–9in Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 3, I would hear him first, and then pass it by... He must come as a delinquent on his knees. 1677A. Horneck Gt. Law Consid. v. (1704) 297 These observables are passed by as things out of his element. 1869J. Martineau Ess. II. 76 Instances..which legislation passes by in silence. 1869Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xiii. 278 That Eadward might rightly pass by an incompetent minor. 1871R. H. Hutton Ess. (1877) I. 71, I pass them by with the remark.
62. pass forth.
a. intr. To go out or away (arch.). † to pass forth of use, to go out of use, become obsolete (obs.).
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2910 He sey þe contreys as he passede vorþ & destrued & bar in eche half. c1394P. Pl. Crede 96 Leue nouȝt on þo losels but let hem forþ pasen. 1530Palsgr. 654/1, I passe forthe, I go forthe, as an armye whan it is removynge, or a company byfore a great estate. 1565Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 332 Understanding the privilegis of the Scottis merchantis..to decay and pas furth of use in the partis of Flanderis. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. iii. 16 He passed forth with her in faire array.
†b. To go forward, advance, go on, continue.
c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 184 This passeth forth..ffro day to day..this..Absolon So woweth hire. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7505 He was wele paste forthe in age. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 391 The yongest..say their opinions first, and so passe foorth in order vntill it come to the highest.
†c. trans. To spend or pass (time). Obs.
1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (Percy Soc.) 73 She wyll wyth love her grene flouryng age Passe forth in joye, pleasure, & courage. 1552Huloet, Passe forth the day or tyme, agitare diem, exigere tempus. 1573–80Baret Alv. P 158, I will passe forth this day by little and little [paulatim hunc producam diem] with sipping and drinking.
63. a. pass in. trans. To hand in (e.g. a cheque to a bank). to pass in one's cheques, to die (slang): see also check n.1 15; to pass in one's chips: see chip n.1 2 e; also absol.; to pass in one's marble: see marble n. 4 b.
1872‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It 332 (Farmer) One of the boys has passed in his checks, and we want to give him a good send-off. 1894H. Nisbet Bush Girl's Rom. 108 The best thing I can do for you is to give you a cheque of my own made payable to yourself at sight, with an introduction to the bank as well, and I will pass in the form myself next time I am down there. 1900W. Lond. Observ. 4 May 3/7, I see that young M. has passed in his checks. 1904N.Y. Even. Jrnl. 3 May 2 ‘I may die’ he told friends, ‘and I want to breathe American air again before I pass in.’
b. trans. To withdraw from an auction sale because of failure to reach the reserve price. Austral. and N.Z.
1973Sun-Herald (Sydney) 26 Aug. 23/2 The house was passed in at $37,000—the reserve was $42,000. 1977N.Z. Herald 5 Jan. 1-11/10 What seemed to be unrealistic prices asked for by vendors in general resulted in 60 of the 99 lots on offer at a thoroughbred sale at Alexandra Park yesterday being passed in.
64. pass off.
a. intr. To go off or disappear gradually: said of sensations, physical conditions, moisture, etc.
1845Budd Dis. Liver 266 In the presence of some medicines that pass off in the bile. 1861Headland Med. Handbk. 160 Remittent fever instead of intermitting at distinct periods, passes off after a variable time, and then recurs. a1905Mod. After a little the feeling of faintness passed off. The hydrogen unites with the oxygen to form water, which passes off in steam. The smell of the paint will pass off in a few days.
b. intr. Of a proceeding: To be carried through and completed (with more or less success).
1787J. Woodforde Diary 4 Dec. (1926) II. 356 Everything passed of [sic] as agreeable as one might expect from such a Meeting. 1788E. Sheridan Jrnl. (1960) 107 All pass'd off very well—My Father a little stately at first but soon thoroughly cordial with his Son. Ibid. 141 Our day pass'd off very well—no awkwardness or unpleasantness of any kind. 1886Times 23 Nov. 9 In every sense the festival passed off as its promoters must have desired. 1891Leeds Merc. 2 May 6/3 The Labour Demonstrations throughout Europe yesterday passed off on the whole more peaceably than was anticipated. a1905Mod. How did the wedding pass off? Everything passed off very well.
c. trans. To put into circulation, or dispose of (esp. deceptively); to palm off; to impose; spec. in Law, to represent (goods, etc.) as those of another.
1799H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 297 They might be tempted to pass off for their own what they pick up from others. 1857Borrow Rom. Rye xvii, And other customers came in, who..also passed off their jokes upon me. Ibid. xli, [He] sometimes shortened money, and at other times passed off what had been shortened by other gentry. 1865M. Arnold Ess. Crit. ii. 65 Trying to pass off their wares as excellent. 1884Law Times Rep. LI. 222/2 The applicants..pass off their goods for those of the Baron de Geer. 1900, etc. [see passing vbl. n. 2 b]. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 388/1 No trader is entitled to ‘pass-off’ his goods as those of another... Even if the ‘passing-off’ is done innocently it will be restrained. 1972White & Jacob Kerly's Law of Trade Marks (ed. 10) xvi. 362 The question whether the use of particular words or badges is calculated to pass off the defendant's goods as those of the plaintiff is often one of difficulty.
d. To cause (a person) to be accepted in some false character; esp. refl. (with for or as), to give oneself out as what one is not, to pretend to be.
1809Malkin Gil Blas v. i. ⁋12 He passed himself off for my servant. Ibid. ⁋18 The insolence of this scoundrel who fancies to pass me off for a highwayman. 1871Smiles Charac. vi. (1876) 181 He does not seek to pass himself off as richer than he is. 1885H. Conway Family Affair l, A child still young enough to be passed off as a child in arms.
e. To ward off or adroitly put aside (a remark, etc.) without seriously meeting it: to parry.
1890A. Gissing Village Hampden III. xi. 238 The young man passed off lightly all such reference.
65. pass on.
a. intr. See simple senses and on adv.; esp. to proceed on one's way, in one's course, in one's discourse or writing; to continue one's course; to proceed or advance, as a transaction or progressive state; to pass, as time.
a1300Cursor M. 17288 + 395 Þe day is passed on, no farrer may þou wyn. 1470–85Malory Arthur xviii. xx, Soo this paste on alle that wynter with alle manere of huntynge and haukyng. 1573–80Baret Alv. P 163 The more time that passed on, the more [etc.]. 1611Bible Gen. xviii. 5, I will fetch a morsell of bread; and comfort ye your hearts, after that ye shall passe on. 1626C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 46 The Pope spake all this with so great heat, that the Ambassador did not iudge fit at that time to passe on further. 1634Milton Comus 430 Yea there, where very desolation dwels..She may pass on with unblench't majesty. 1842Tennyson ‘Come not when I am dead’ ii, Pass on, weak heart, and leave me where I lie. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 651 The optic neuritis is passing on to post-neuritic atrophy. a1905Mod. Pass on, please, and do not obstruct the way. The preacher passes on to his second head. But we have said enough on this point; we pass on.
b. trans. To send or hand (anything) to the next member of a series.
1791‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. xvii. (1809) 139 No Vagrants past on. 1877Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 357 Getting rid of a case by saving your own pocket and passing the applicant on to another. Mod. Please read this and pass it on.
c. intr. To proceed from one existence or activity to another; spec. to die.
1804–1820W. Blake Jerusalem iii, in Compl. Writings (1972) 714 So Men pass on: but States remain permanent for ever. 1884150th Anniv. Settlement of Boscawen & Webster, New Hampsh. 44 They have all passed on to become soldiers of the unseen army. 1920R. Macaulay Potterism iii. ii. 131 If I have to pass on before Percy, he will be left bereaved indeed. 1923Amer. Mag. June 15/1 The murderer took poison and so the two passed on. 1925Nat. Geogr. Mag. XLVII. 489/2 His mother now dwells in comfort..while his father has passed on. 1928L. North Parasites 77 When my dad passed on there was just enough insurance to have let me finish up. 1930‘E. Queen’ French Powder Myst. xxxv. 274 Bernice [should] come in for a good share of Cyrus's estate when Cyrus should pass on. 1945A. Huxley Time must have Stop vi. 66 ‘They don't die,’ said Mrs. Gamble. ‘They pass on.’ 1946E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh i. 89 Too late! The old Doc has passed on to his Maker. 1960S. Kauffmann If it be Love i. 12 ‘Margaret passed on.’ William winced..when someone used a euphemism for ‘died’. 1973A. Broinowski Take One Ambassador i. 14 I'm Mrs Bert Norrice, well, Mrs Fern Norrice these days, since Mr Norrice passed on last year. 1977B. Pym Quartet in Autumn i. 10 Old Snowy had long since died, ‘passed on’ or ‘been taken’, however one liked to put it.
66. pass out.
a. intr. See simple senses and out adv.; chiefly, to go out through a passage. to pass out of, to issue from, leave; to pass out of sight, to go beyond the reach of sight.
13..K. Alis. 6246 Ther no schal schip out passe. c1375Cursor M. 12127 (Fairf.) How lange þi life sal laste or þou passe out of þis werde. a1425Ibid. 17350 (Trin.) Þei sent aspies also aboute Þat he shulde not passen oute. 1574tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 3 That he should passe out of Asia into Macedonia. a1711Ken Art. Visit. Wks. (1838) 492 When any one is passing out of this life. 1833Keble Serm. (1848) I. 147 He may..pass out of this world, before he see any abatement in the triumph of disorder and irreligion. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 34 Love..Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, pass'd in music out of sight.
†b. trans. To spend the whole of (a time).
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 55 The poore Sultan utterly discouraged, returned againe to Constantinople, and there..passed out the rest of his dayes.
c. intr. (a) to die; (b) to faint, become unconscious; also, to pass out cold. colloq.
1899Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 2/1 Another [spirit] who ‘passed out’ with consumption is heard coughing. 1924P. Marks Plastic Age i. 12 He left us a whole lot of jack when he passed out. 1927Hutchinson's Myst. Story Mag. Feb. 80 First, the name of the dead relative or friend, then when they passed out. 1939Joyce Finnegans Wake 627, I am passing out. O bitter ending! 1968Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1966 xlvi. 28 Pass out, die—‘When he passed out, he was buried with his dogs.’
1915C. Mathewson Catcher Craig i. 9 They sure do work you hard over there. I worked in the stock-room one summer and nearly passed out! 1918J. M. Grider War Birds (1927) 97 We..carried him home after he passed out. 1924P. Marks Plastic Age xxii. 254 A man ‘passed out cold’ and had to be carried from the gymnasium. 1935J. T. Farrell Guillotine Party 191 Young Johnny Herbert had gotten drunk for the first time in his life and he'd passed out like a light. 1936Wodehouse Laughing Gas ii. 26, I broke off here, because she had fainted... She slid sideways along the seat and quietly passed out. 1939J. B. Priestley Let People Sing vii. 167 He's a big success in the cocktail bar... Does a few little tricks now and then, an' they nearly pass out. 1942D. Powell Time to be Born (1943) x. 245 ‘What'll we do if he passes out in your place?’ Corinne asked. ‘I'll look after him,’ said Vicky. 1947‘N. Shute’ Chequer Board i. 3, I suddenly passed out cold... I passed out cold and fell down..on the floor. a1953E. O'Neill Hughie (1962) 22, I got scared he'd pass out with excitement. 1974D. Gray Dead Give Away ix. 95 ‘How has she taken it?’ ‘Badly... She passed out when I told her.’
d. trans. To knock unconscious. Austral. slang.
1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands xii. 151 He promised to show Feathers a ‘boshter knack for passing out gazobs’.
e. intr. To complete a course of instruction, etc., successfully; to graduate. Also trans., to undergo (a course of instruction); to allow or enable (someone) to pass out.
1916Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 28 July 4/7 Midshipman Robert W. Wood..passed out first in 1914 both in the college and in ships. 1920Discovery Mar. 77/2 Airship pilots..are required to pass-out a course in free ballooning, which includes a night flight and a solo flight. a1968S. Faessler in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories (1968) 2nd Ser. 335 My plan, after being passed out of Grade VIII, was to go..to Harbord Collegiate. 1968J. Sangster Touchfeather ii. 8, I romped through the training, passing out with the highest marks anyone could remember.
f. To hand out or distribute.
1926Publishers' Weekly 10 July 116 Librarians..are eager and willing to pass out catalogs that have won their confidence. 1927Ibid. 12 Feb. 599 On that day she had passed out 130 books. 1964Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 5 June (1970) 154, I was impressed that Charlotte Ford said, ‘I'll do anything you want me to do. Type, pass out cards, anything.’ 1973R. Hill Ruling Passion iii. iii. 179 He passed out some photostatted sheets. 1978Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 8e/1 Allow the ATF to lift licenses from dealers at any time in the future for the most minor of errors in complicated bookkeeping procedures, as well as pass out $10,000 fines.
g. Bridge. Of the players: to make three consecutive passes following (a bid), the auction thus ending and this bid becoming the contract; to make no positive bid at all in (a hand). Usu. in pass.
1959Listener 19 Mar. 530/3 The fourth hand bid Three Spades which was passed out. 1960T. Reese Play Bridge with Reese 91 Partner now surprises me by going five hearts. That is passed out. 1969A. Truscott Gt. Bridge Scandal 307 A two notrump opening bid that has been passed out.
67. pass over.
a. intr. To go across; to cross to the other or opposite side. In Chemistry, said of the volatilized substances which pass from the retort in distillation, and are condensed in the receiver.
a1330Otuel 707 Ouer þe brugge þei wenten ifeere,..& þo þei ouer passed were, Such auntres þei funden þere. 1611Bible Deut. iii. 18 Ye shall passe ouer armed before your brethren the children of Israel. 1641French Distill. vi. (1651) 196 Adde the tartarizated quintessence, yet so that..that passe over with it. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 601 The hope that some of those regiments which he had formerly commanded would pass over to his standard. 1863–72Watts Dict. Chem. I. 10 That which passes over towards the middle must be redistilled to free it from copper mechanically carried over. 1864–72Ibid. II. 337 Some organic compounds boil at so low a temperature that, when heated in a retort, they pass over unchanged. 1875Bennett & Dyer tr. Sachs' Bot. 802 The contents of one of the conjugating cells pass over into the other which remains stationary. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 25 After lining the inner surface of the lids, it [mucous membrane] passes over to the ball, forming a loose fold.
b. Of a period of time: To go by, elapse, be spent, come to an end.
c1470Henry Wallace i. 271 This passit our, quhill diuers dayis war gane. 1659H. Plumptre Let. in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 6 Wishing that all your yeares yet to come may passe over with mirth and jollityes. 1794W. Blake Urizen iv, in Compl. Writings (1972) 228 And a second Age passed over, And a state of dismal woe. 1795–1804― Vala v, in Compl. Writings (1972) 307 Till many a morn & many a night pass'd over in dire woe. 1840R. H. Dana Two Yrs. before Mast xxiv. 250 The night passed over without any trouble. 1878R. L. Stevenson in London 6 July 10/1 The journey passed over without much incident.
†c. With compl., as to pass over unpunished, to go unpunished. Obs.
1566Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 470 Wordis of dishonour..quhilk aucht nocht to pas owir untryit and unpuneist.
d. trans. To hand over to another; to transfer.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 306 b, [They] leauing behinde them no children, passed ouer the gouernment to their yongest brother. 1577Harrison England ii. xxiii. (1877) i. 355 But then I should exceed the limits of a description. Wherefore I passe it ouer to others [etc.]. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 687 This house..satisfied the said Sir Richard; who thereupon past it ouer to Q. Mary. a1686T. Watson Body Divin. (1692) 460 The Covenant of Grace..by vertue of which God passeth himself over to us to be our God. 1862Dana Man. Geol. 583 Geology here passes over the continuation of the history of man to Archaeology.
e. To pass (a thing) without touching it, or without remark or notice, esp. in narration; to omit, to skip, to disregard; to ignore the claims of (a person) to promotion, etc., to pass by in selection for a special post or duty.
As in pass by 61 c, when the object is a n., it usually comes after over, so that the construction can then be analysed as that of an intrans. vb. followed by a preposition with its object; as in the literal he passed over the bridge. Cf. also the vb. overpass, of which pass over was formerly the decomposed form used in certain verbal constructions.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 226 Paul passiþ over þes two vertues, and praieþ after charite. c1386Chaucer Pard. Prol. 17 This is a pitous tale for to heere But nathelees passe ouer is no fors. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 646, I wyll passe ouer the cyrcumstaunce, And shortly shewe you the hole substaunce. 1530Palsgr. 654/2, I have many mo thynges to saye..but, for faulte of tyme, I passe them over. 1573G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 8, I pas mani sutch misusagis over. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 54 The matter of Yelverton is of such ymportaunce as yt cannot be paste over. 1711Addison Spect. No. 1 ⁋3 As for the rest of my Infancy... I shall pass it over in Silence. 1839James Gentl. Old Sch. xiv, This gross offence..was not to be passed over. 1890W. E. Norris Misadventure viii, He does not think it would be right to pass over his son. 1890T. W. Reid Monckton-Milnes (1891) I. viii. 360 He had again been disappointed of his..expectation of office, Peel having once more passed him over.
f. To let go unpunished, to overlook (an offence).
1388Wyclif Prov. xix. 11 His glorie is to passe ouere wickid thingis. 1611Bible ibid., It is his glory to passe ouer a transgression. 1814Wellington 16 May in Gurw. Desp. (1838) XII. 21 If conduct such as that..be passed over, it will be impossible to maintain the necessary discipline of the army. 1877Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 662 The sin..was not to be winked at and passed over as a mere trifle.
†g. To surpass = overpass v. 7.
1390Gower Conf. II. 264 A goddesse..what hir liste..Sche dede, That passeth over manneskinde.
h. To convey across; to transport.
1832N. Wyeth Jrnl. 18 June in Corr. & Jrnls. (1899) 157 Reached the place for fording the platte. 19th, Passed over my goods during a severe wind without accident.
i. intr. To die.
Associated esp. with spiritualism.
1909Review of Reviews Feb. 123/2 His automatic writing..came..through the same friend through whom he has constantly communicated ever since he passed over. 1928Daily Mail 7 Aug. 16/5 This doctor was now with my mother, who had recently passed over. 1930D. L. Sayers Strong Poison xvi. 209, I have had the most marvellous talks with the dear ones who have passed over. 1938Auden & Isherwood On Frontier iii. i. 89 Those who have passed over are all very happy. He said the Other Side was difficult to describe. 1958C. Watson Coffin scarcely Used ii. 18 If the living's good and bad mixed, then those who've passed over are two sorts as well. 1974J. Stubbs Painted Face vii. 108, I wonder if her poor husband ever read those diaries, after she passed over?
68. pass through: emphatic of sense 14.
c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 15 Thurgh I past, with mekyl payn. a1693South Serm. II. v. 176 His Heart lies open..for all the Sin and Villainy in the World freely to pass through. 1801Bloomfield Rural T., Fakenham Ghost xi, So long it [the gate] swung That Ghost and all pass'd through. 1832Tennyson Dream Fair Women 83 Pass freely thro': the wood is all thine own.
69. pass up. To give up or abandon (a course of action, etc.); to decline or refuse to have (further) dealings with (someone or something); to reject (something) on the terms offered; to renounce or forgo (an opportunity, prospect, etc.). orig. U.S.
1896Ade Artie i. 5 If he gets on a street-car where I am, I get off and walk. That ain't no lie. I pass him up. Ibid. xii. 112 Well, I guess I'll pass up the whole thing. 1906H. D. Pittman Belle of Bluegrass Country vii. 108 ‘I know,’ he continued, ‘when I've got enough. I pass this little town up.’ 1923R. D. Paine Comrades of Rolling Ocean ii. 33 My duty is to stand by the family... That is why I passed up college. 1926N.Y. Times Mag. 13 Aug. 1 He was sent to the U.S. Senate, but on his own terms, having previously passed up the Senatorship rather than take it on the terms of others. 1931W. G. McAdoo Crowded Yrs. xxxii. 503 This would have been congenial work..but I had to pass it up. 1932Wodehouse Hot Water xi. 188 And those jewels? You're really going to pass them up? 1939― Uncle Fred in Springtime i. 19 Your name..will be mud if you pass up an excellent bet like old Horace Davenport. 1943R. Frost Let. Feb. (1972) 241, I am lucky to be getting lectures still at here and there a college and feel I mustn't pass any of them up. 1948L. A. G. Strong Trevannion v. 98, I don't like to see a good man waste himself. Pass up his opportunities. 1951E. Paul Springtime in Paris xvi. 310 ‘You mean that miserable bookworm turned her down, when she offered herself? He's a cad.’ ‘Don't say that... He didn't pass her up.’ 1956‘A. Gilbert’ And Death came Too xiv. 146 Eventually he agreed to take the case (his heel of Achilles being an inability to pass up a chance of wiping the official eye). 1962Listener 26 Apr. 722/2 They passed up opportunities of wealth and property. 1964Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 6 July (1970) 175 When Lyndon insisted that I go over to the Scharnhorst Ranch with him, it was one last chance that I couldn't pass up. 1969Auden City without Walls 48 If you pass up a dame, you've yourself to blame, For shame is neurotic, so snatch! 1972J. Potts Trouble-Maker (1973) x. 72 All false leads so far, but they can't afford to pass any of them up. 1975Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Apr. 401/1 When the book does put reproductions of two states of the same etching side by side..Mr Passeron passes up the opportunity to discuss the meaning of the changes made. 1976Daily Tel. 26 Oct. 17/1 He had passed up a job offer with a large accounting firm to cruise the South Seas. |