n.1 a traveller in or on a public or private conveyance (other than the driver, pilot, crew, etc.).
2 colloq. a member of a team, crew, etc., who does no effective work.
3 (attrib.) for the use of passengers (passenger seat).
Phrases and idioms:
passenger-mile one mile travelled by one passenger, as a unit of traffic. passenger-pigeon an extinct wild pigeon of N. America, capable of long flight.
Etymology: ME f. OF passager f. OF passager (adj.) passing (as passage(1)): -n- as in messenger etc.