past
//pɑːst//
Forms
- Plural
- pasts
- Comparative
- more past
- Superlative
- most past
- Comparative
- more past
- Superlative
- most past
Definitions
1.The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.
- The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed.
- The Mesozoic landscape of southeastern Utah can tell us much about the past, and it's one of the most intriguing and beautiful landscapes on Earth.
2.The past tense.
- If your rent comes in past the fifth, a late charge will be added.
- You can't erase the past.
1.Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.
- That had been, what, three years past?
- Some four decades past, as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A. Poucher [..].
2.Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.
- Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.
3.Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.
4.Having already happened; in the past; finished.
1.In a direction that passes.
- I watched him walk past.
1.Beyond in place or quantity.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #754
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English passed, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass.