1799 W. Scott tr. J. W. von Goethe Goetz of Berlichingen ii. iii. 69 George shall..force the fellow to give him the pass-word.

1811 F. Plowden Hist. Ireland 1801–10 II. iv. 443 The secret passages to the back of the throne were daily thronged by those, who had the pass word or private key.

1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xv. 555 Ferguson..longed to be again the president of societies where none could enter without a pass-word.

1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 142 That fresh, unspoiled, girlish heart to which he alone had the password.

1917 E. R. Burroughs Princess of Mars xxii. 257 No one comes from Than Kosis without carrying an order or the password. You must give me one or the other before you may pass.

1959 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. Great Brit. & Irel. 89 177 Visitors must halt at the entrance and answer riddles, a form of password.

1988 H. H. A. Cooper & L. J. Redlinger Catching Spies iv. 152 The spy who does not know the correct password..may draw unwelcome attention to himself through his endeavors to acquire it.

2001 New Republic 15 Oct. 26/1 A member of the worker's family can then show up at his local hawala office, show an ID or relay a password, and retrieve the equivalent [of his U.S. paycheck] in rupees.

1965 Proc. AFIPS Conf. 27 218/1 The file structure may be essentially closed, with initial access restricted for any user to a particular initial directory (assuming his ability to give a password, for example).

1985 Which Computer? Apr. 82/2 A password can be assigned to some functions, but you can't match user names with them.

2002 D. Verton Hacker Diaries iii. 56 A vulnerable password had allowed the intruder to establish a shell account and inject himself into the network as a legitimate user.