I. ˈpast, ˈpaa(ə)st, ˈpaist, ˈpȧst adjective
Etymology: Middle English passed, past, from past participle of passen to pass
1.
a. : gone by : ago
started working on this project ten years past
b. : just gone by or elapsed : immediately preceding
the oily swell of the past storm — Norman Douglas
had been sitting in the darkness for nearly an hour past — Lucien Price
the past election
the past few months
c. archaic : of the past month
your letter of the 30th past — Earl of Chesterfield
2. : belonging to a former time : having existed or taken place in a period before the present : bygone
in explanation and defense of his own past acts — W.C.Ford
lived in some past world, two or three hundred years ago — R.W.Emerson
3. : of, relating to, or constituting a verb tense that in English is usually formed by internal vowel change (as in sang ) or by the addition of a suffix (as in laughed ) and that is expressive of time gone by
4. : having served as a specified officer in a society, order, or organization
past president
past commander
past medical director
II. preposition
Etymology: Middle English passed, past, from past participle of passen
1.
a. : beyond the age for or of
my father was just past his first vote — Ben Riker
past playing with dolls
b. : later than : after
it was now past sunset — Lucien Price
past the turn of the year — Atlantic
a quarter past two
c. : older than
is now past 60
is just past four
2.
a. : at the farther side of : beyond
the entrance to the dining room is just past the elevators on your right — Hamilton Basso
b. : in a course going close to and then beyond
women pushed past arguing men to reach the counter — Stuart Cloete
the railroad runs past the house
c. : in a direction going close to and then beyond
standing by the monument and gazing down the grassy aisle past the heaps of crumpled chimney stones — Frederick Nebel
3. obsolete : more than
has not past three or four hairs on his chin — Shakespeare
4.
a. : beyond the reach or influence of : out of the range, scope, or sphere of : incapable of
has declined past all help — Sat. Eve. Post
had a way with a horse that was past explaining — Gerald Beaumont
a dilemma past solution — Jean Stafford
b. : beyond the capacity or power of
wouldn't put it past him to play a trick like that
c. : beyond in degree or manner
has gone far past other writers in his experiments with language
•
- past oneself
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: past (I)
1.
a. : former time : time gone by
men will turn to the past then, as we should now, chiefly to discover the ways of avoiding error — Harlow Shapley
b. : something that happened or was done in the past
promised to atone for the past
2.
a. : the past tense of a language
b. : a verb form in the past tense
3.
a. : a past life, history, or course of action
for ancient families with chequered pasts he had a romantic reverence — John Buchan
b. : a past life or career that is unknown or deliberately kept secret ; especially : a concealed episode or history of criminal or immoral behavior
his past caught up with him when an old prison friend recognized him
a woman with a past
IV. adverb
Etymology: past (II)
1. : so as to reach and go by a point near at hand : by
every moment or so, the trains clank past — Hollis Alpert
counted all eight porters coming past — D.L.Busk
2. Scot & Irish : aside , away
lay them past to rust — William Carleton