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past participle definition

past participle

Gram. a participle used a) with auxiliaries to express, typically, completed action or a time or state gone by (Ex.: spoken in “he has spoken”) b) with auxiliaries to form the passive voice (Ex.: eaten in “the snails were all eaten in a moment”) c) as an adjective (Ex.: polished in “polished brass”)

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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