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Passing   /pˈæsɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Pass  v. t.  
1.
In simple, transitive senses; as:
(a)
To go by, beyond, over, through, or the like; to proceed from one side to the other of; as, to pass a house, a stream, a boundary, etc.
(b)
Hence: To go from one limit to the other of; to spend; to live through; to have experience of; to undergo; to suffer. "To pass commodiously this life." "She loved me for the dangers I had passed."
(c)
To go by without noticing; to omit attention to; to take no note of; to disregard. "Please you that I may pass This doing." "I pass their warlike pomp, their proud array."
(d)
To transcend; to surpass; to excel; to exceed. "And strive to pass... Their native music by her skillful art." "Whose tender power Passes the strength of storms in their most desolate hour."
(e)
To go successfully through, as an examination, trail, test, etc.; to obtain the formal sanction of, as a legislative body; as, he passed his examination; the bill passed the senate.
2.
In causative senses: as:
(a)
To cause to move or go; to send; to transfer from one person, place, or condition to another; to transmit; to deliver; to hand; to make over; as, the waiter passed bisquit and cheese; the torch was passed from hand to hand. "I had only time to pass my eye over the medals." "Waller passed over five thousand horse and foot by Newbridge."
(b)
To cause to pass the lips; to utter; to pronounce; hence, to promise; to pledge; as, to pass sentence. "Father, thy word is passed."
(c)
To cause to advance by stages of progress; to carry on with success through an ordeal, examination, or action; specifically, to give legal or official sanction to; to ratify; to enact; to approve as valid and just; as, he passed the bill through the committee; the senate passed the law.
(d)
To put in circulation; to give currency to; as, to pass counterfeit money. "Pass the happy news."
(e)
To cause to obtain entrance, admission, or conveyance; as, to pass a person into a theater, or over a railroad.
3.
To emit from the bowels; to evacuate.
4.
(Naut.) To take a turn with (a line, gasket, etc.), as around a sail in furling, and make secure.
5.
(Fencing) To make, as a thrust, punto, etc.
Passed midshipman. See under Midshipman.
To pass a dividend, to omit the declaration and payment of a dividend at the time when due.
To pass away, to spend; to waste. "Lest she pass away the flower of her age."
To pass by.
(a)
To disregard; to neglect.
(b)
To excuse; to spare; to overlook.
To pass off, to impose fraudulently; to palm off. "Passed himself off as a bishop."
To pass (something) on (some one) or To pass (something) upon (some one), to put upon as a trick or cheat; to palm off. "She passed the child on her husband for a boy."
To pass over, to overlook; not to note or resent; as, to pass over an affront.



Pass  v. i.  (past & past part. passed; pres. part. passing)  
1.
To go; to move; to proceed; to be moved or transferred from one point to another; to make a transit; usually with a following adverb or adverbal phrase defining the kind or manner of motion; as, to pass on, by, out, in, etc.; to pass swiftly, directly, smoothly, etc.; to pass to the rear, under the yoke, over the bridge, across the field, beyond the border, etc. "But now pass over (i. e., pass on)." "On high behests his angels to and fro Passed frequent." "Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, And from their bodies passed."
2.
To move or be transferred from one state or condition to another; to change possession, condition, or circumstances; to undergo transition; as, the business has passed into other hands. "Others, dissatisfied with what they have,... pass from just to unjust."
3.
To move beyond the range of the senses or of knowledge; to pass away; hence, to disappear; to vanish; to depart; specifically, to depart from life; to die. "Disturb him not, let him pass paceably." "Beauty is a charm, but soon the charm will pass." "The passing of the sweetest soul That ever looked with human eyes."
4.
To move or to come into being or under notice; to come and go in consciousness; hence, to take place; to occur; to happen; to come; to occur progressively or in succession; to be present transitorily. "So death passed upon all men." "Our own consciousness of what passes within our own mind."
5.
To go by or glide by, as time; to elapse; to be spent; as, their vacation passed pleasantly. "Now the time is far passed."
6.
To go from one person to another; hence, to be given and taken freely; as, clipped coin will not pass; to obtain general acceptance; to be held or regarded; to circulate; to be current; followed by for before a word denoting value or estimation. "Let him pass for a man." "False eloquence passeth only where true is not understood." "This will not pass for a fault in him."
7.
To advance through all the steps or stages necessary to validity or effectiveness; to be carried through a body that has power to sanction or reject; to receive legislative sanction; to be enacted; as, the resolution passed; the bill passed both houses of Congress.
8.
To go through any inspection or test successfully; to be approved or accepted; as, he attempted the examination, but did not expect to pass.
9.
To be suffered to go on; to be tolerated; hence, to continue; to live along. "The play may pass."
10.
To go unheeded or neglected; to proceed without hindrance or opposition; as, we let this act pass.
11.
To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess. (Obs.) "This passes, Master Ford."
12.
To take heed; to care. (Obs.) "As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not."
13.
To go through the intestines.
14.
(Law) To be conveyed or transferred by will, deed, or other instrument of conveyance; as, an estate passes by a certain clause in a deed.
15.
(Fencing) To make a lunge or pass; to thrust.
16.
(Card Playing) To decline to play in one's turn; in euchre, to decline to make the trump. "She would not play, yet must not pass."
To bring to pass, To come to pass. See under Bring, and Come.
To pass away, to disappear; to die; to vanish. "The heavens shall pass away." "I thought to pass away before, but yet alive I am."
To pass by, to go near and beyond a certain person or place; as, he passed by as we stood there.
To pass into, to change by a gradual transmission; to blend or unite with.
To pass on, to proceed.
To pass on or To pass upon.
(a)
To happen to; to come upon; to affect. "So death passed upon all men." "Provided no indirect act pass upon our prayers to define them."
(b)
To determine concerning; to give judgment or sentence upon. "We may not pass upon his life."
To pass off, to go away; to cease; to disappear; as, an agitation passes off.
To pass over, to go from one side or end to the other; to cross, as a river, road, or bridge.



adjective
Passing  adj.  
1.
Relating to the act of passing or going; going by, beyond, through, or away; departing.
2.
Exceeding; surpassing, eminent. "Her passing deformity."
Passing note (Mus.), a character including a passing tone.
Passing tone (Mus.), a tone introduced between two other tones, on an unaccented portion of a measure, for the sake of smoother melody, but forming no essential part of the harmony.



noun
Passing  n.  The act of one who, or that which, passes; the act of going by or away.
Passing bell, a tolling of a bell to announce that a soul is passing, or has passed, from its body (formerly done to invoke prayers for the dying); also, a tolling during the passing of a funeral procession to the grave, or during funeral ceremonies.



adverb
Passing  adv.  Exceedingly; excessively; surpassingly; as, passing fair; passing strange. "You apprehend passing shrewdly."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Passing" Quotes from Famous Books



... with many expressions by no means to be discovered in dictionaries, and relating to the personal history of himself or horses, or other things dear and important to him, or to persons in the ballroom then passing before them, and about whose appearance or character Mr. Harry spoke with artless freedom, and a ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray

... had it not been for this there can be no doubt that the riot would have led to results even more disastrous than those which have taken place. At the same time it is the feeling of the court that you are now trying to screen the accused, for it can hardly be, that passing so close you could fail to recognize some of those whom ...
— Facing Death - The Hero of the Vaughan Pit. A Tale of the Coal Mines • G. A. Henty

... came into another ragged field, narrow and sloping to a stretch of railroad track and the smoking ruins of a wooden station. Around were numerous earthworks, all abandoned. Beyond the station, on either side the road, grey troops were massing. The firing ahead was as yet desultory. "Just skirmishers passing the time of day!" said the artilleryman. "Hello! What're they doing on the railroad track? Well, I ...
— The Long Roll • Mary Johnston

... Embargo Act. This forbade vessels to leave American ports after a certain day. If the people had been united, the embargo might have done what Jefferson expected it would do. But the people were not united. Especially in New England, the shipowners tried in every way to break the law. This led to the passing of stricter laws. Finally the New Englanders even talked of ...
— A Short History of the United States • Edward Channing

... through Grizzly Canon, by this time clothed in funereal drapery and shadows. The redwoods, burying their moccasined feet in the red soil, stood in Indian file along the track, trailing an uncouth benediction from their bending boughs upon the passing bier. A hare, surprised into helpless inactivity, sat upright and pulsating in the ferns by the roadside as the cortege went by. Squirrels hastened to gain a secure outlook from higher boughs; and the blue-jays, spreading their wings, fluttered before them like outriders, ...
— The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales • Bret Harte


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