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past

[ past ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

gone by or elapsed in time:
It was a bad time, but it's all past now.
of, having existed in, or having occurred during a time previous to the present; bygone:
the past glories of the Incas.
gone by just before the present time; just passed:
during the past year.
ago:
six days past.
having formerly been or served as; previous; earlier:
three past presidents of the club.
Grammar. designating a tense, or other verb formation or construction, that refers to events or states in time gone by.

noun

the time gone by:
He could remember events far back in the past.
the history of a person, nation, etc.:
our country's glorious past.
what has existed or has happened at some earlier time:
Try to forget the past, now that your troubles are over.
the events, phenomena, conditions, etc., that characterized an earlier historical period:
That hat is something out of the past.
an earlier period of a person's life, career, etc., that is thought to be of a shameful or embarrassing nature:
When he left prison, he put his past behind him.
Grammar. past tense.

adverb

so as to pass by or beyond; by:
The troops marched past.

preposition

beyond in time; later than; after:
past noon;
half past six.
beyond in space or position; farther on than:
the house just past the church.
in a direction so as to pass by or go beyond:
We went past the house by mistake.
beyond in amount, number, etc.:
past the maximum age for enlisting in the army.
beyond the reach, scope, influence, or power of:
He is past hope of recovery.

past

/ ��ɑː�� /

adjective

completed, finished, and no longer in existence
past happiness
denoting or belonging to all or a segment of the time that has elapsed at the present moment
the past history of the world
denoting a specific unit of time that immediately precedes the present one
the past month
prenominal denoting a person who has held and relinquished an office or position; former
a past president
grammar denoting any of various tenses of verbs that are used in describing actions, events, or states that have been begun or completed at the time of utterance Compare aorist imperfect perfect

noun

the past
the period of time or a segment of it that has elapsed
forget the past
the history, experience, or background of a nation, person, etc
a soldier with a distinguished past
an earlier period of someone's life, esp one that contains events kept secret or regarded as disreputable
grammar
1. a past tense
2. a verb in a past tense

adverb

at a specified or unspecified time before the present; ago
three years past
on or onwards
I greeted him but he just walked past

preposition

beyond in time
it's past midnight
beyond in place or position
the library is past the church
moving beyond; in a direction that passes
he walked past me
beyond or above the reach, limit, or scope of
his foolishness is past comprehension
beyond or above in number or amount
to count past ten
past it informal.
unable to perform the tasks one could do when one was younger
not put it past someone
to consider someone capable of (the action specified)

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Usage

The past participle of pass is sometimes wrongly spelt past: the time for recriminations has passed (not past )

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Word History and Origins

Origin of past¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; from Middle English, variant spelling of passed, past participle of pass

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Word History and Origins

Origin of past¹

C14: from passed, past participle of pass

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Idioms and Phrases

live in (the past)
not put something past someone

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Sale have now won their past four Premiership matches and go into the run-in with momentum.

From

The judge added that she would be provided with "background" about her heritage and told what happened in her past.

From

"Compared with the past two years, it is not a failure," said Maresca, who is in his first season in charge.

From

Munster - who won their past 10 games against Welsh opposition - responded with two tries of their own either side of half-time.

From

Nandy also said she had been "very concerned" about the way the fee had been enforced in the past as it had been found to disproportionately target women.

From

Related Words

history

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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