■ adjective
1》 gone by in time and no longer existing.
↘recently elapsed: the ~ twelve months.
2》 Grammar (of a tense) expressing a ~ action or state.
■ noun
1》 (usu. the ~ ) a ~ period or the events in it.
↘a person's or thing's history or earlier life: the country's colourful ~.
2》 Grammar a ~ tense or form of a verb.
■ preposition
1》 to or on the further side of.
2》 in front of or from one side to the other of.
3》 beyond in time; later than.
4》 no longer capable of.
5》 beyond the scope of.
■ adverb
1》 so as to pass from one side of something to the other.
2》 used to indicate the passage of time: a week went ~.
Phrases
not put it ~ someone believe someone to be capable of doing something wrong or rash.
~ it informal too old to be any good at anything.
Derivatives
~ness noun
Origin
ME: var. of passed , ~ participle of pass 1 .