Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
Definition of past - 8 dictionary results

past

  [past, pahst]
Use past in a Sentence
–adjective
1. gone by or elapsed in time: It was a bad time, but it's all past now.
2. of, having existed in, or having occurred during a time previous to the present; bygone: the past glories of the Incas.
3. gone by just before the present time; just passed: during the past year.
4. ago: six days past.
5. having formerly been or served as; previous; earlier: three past presidents of the club.
6. Grammar. designating a tense, or other verb formation or construction, that refers to events or states in time gone by.
–noun
7. the time gone by: He could remember events far back in the past.
8. the history of a person, nation, etc.: our country's glorious past.
9. what has existed or has happened at some earlier time: Try to forget the past, now that your troubles are over.
10. the events, phenomena, conditions, etc., that characterized an earlier historical period: That hat is something out of the past.
11. 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.
12. Grammar.
a. the past tense, as he ate, he smoked.
b. another verb formation or construction with past meaning.
c. a form in the past tense.
–adverb
13. so as to pass by or beyond; by: The troops marched past.
–preposition
14. beyond in time; later than; after: past noon; half past six.
15. beyond in space or position; farther on than: the house just past the church.
16. in a direction so as to pass by or go beyond: We went past the house by mistake.
17. beyond in amount, number, etc.: past the maximum age for enlisting in the army.
18. beyond the reach, scope, influence, or power of: He is past hope of recovery.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME; var. sp. of passed, ptp. of pass
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To past
past   (pāst)   
adj.  
  1. No longer current; gone by; over: His youth is past.
  2. Having existed or occurred in an earlier time; bygone: past events; in years past.
    1. Earlier than the present time; ago: 40 years past.
    2. Just gone by or elapsed: in the past few days.
  4. Having served formerly in a given capacity, especially an official one: a past president; a past inmate of a cell.
  5. Grammar Of, relating to, or being a verb tense or form used to express an action or condition prior to the time it is expressed.
n.  
  1. The time before the present.
    1. Previous background, career, experiences, and activities: an elderly person with a distinguished past.
    2. A former period of someone's life kept secret or thought to be shameful: a family with a checkered past.
    3. The past tense.
    4. A verb form in the past tense.
  3. Grammar
    1. The past tense.
    2. A verb form in the past tense.
adv.  So as to pass by or go beyond: He waved as he walked past.
prep.  
  1. Beyond in time; later than or after: past midnight; a quarter past two.
  2. Beyond in position; farther than: The house is a mile past the first stoplight. They walked past the memorial in silence.
    1. Beyond the power, scope, extent, or influence of: The problem is past the point of resolution.
    2. Beyond in development or appropriateness: The child is past drinking from a bottle. You're past sucking your thumb, so don't do it.
  4. Beyond the number or amount of: The child couldn't count past 20. See Usage Note at pass.

[Middle English, from past participle of passen, to pass; see pass.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Past

Past\, a. [From Pass, v.] Of or pertaining to a former time or state; neither present nor future; gone by; elapsed; ended; spent; as, past troubles; past offences. "Past ages." --Milton.

Past master. See under Master.

Past

Past\, n. A former time or state; a state of things gone by. "The past, at least, is secure." --D. Webster.

The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed. --Trench.

Past

Past\, prep. 1. Beyond, in position, or degree; further than; beyond the reach or influence of. "Who being past feeling." --Eph. iv. 19. "Galled past endurance." --Macaulay.

Until we be past thy borders. --Num. xxi. 22.

Love, when once past government, is consequently past shame. --L'Estrange.

2. Beyond, in time; after; as, past the hour.

Is it not past two o'clock? --Shak.

3. Above; exceeding; more than. [R.]

Not past three quarters of a mile. --Shak.

Bows not past three quarters of a yard long. --Spenser.

Past

Past\, adv. By; beyond; as, he ran past.

The alarum of drums swept past. --Longfellow.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : past
Spanish: pasado,
German: vergangen,
Japanese: この前の
More Translations »

past  (adj.)
c.1300, "done with, over," from pp. of passen "go by" (see pass (v.)). The noun meaning "times gone by" is first attested 1590, from the adj.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

past

In addition to the idioms beginning with past, also see live in (the past); not put something past someone.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see past on Thesaurus | Reference