Past meaning

păst
Of, relating to, or being a verb tense or form used to express an action or condition prior to the time it is expressed.
adjective
3
0
The time before the present.
noun
3
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Beyond in time; later than or after.

Past midnight; a quarter past two.

preposition
2
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So as to pass by or go beyond.

He waved as he walked past.

adverb
1
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verb
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Gone by; ended; over.

Our past troubles.

adjective
1
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Of a former time; bygone.
adjective
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Immediately preceding; just gone by.

The past week.

adjective
1
0
Having served formerly.

A past chairman.

adjective
1
0
Indicating an action completed or in progress at a former time, or a state or condition in existence at a former time.
adjective
1
0
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The time that has gone by; days, months, or years gone by.
noun
1
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What has happened; the history, former life, or experiences of a person, group, or institution.

A woman with a past.

noun
1
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Beyond in time; later than.

Five past four.

preposition
1
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Beyond in space; farther on than.
preposition
1
0
Beyond in position; farther than.

The house is a mile past the first stoplight. They walked past the memorial in silence.

preposition
1
1
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Having served formerly in a given capacity, especially an official one.

A past president; a past inmate of a cell.

adjective
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Beyond the number or amount of.

The child couldn't count past 20.

preposition
0
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Beyond in amount or degree; more than.
preposition
0
0
Beyond the extent, power, limits, scope, etc. of.

Past belief.

preposition
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To and beyond a point in time or space; by; so as to pass.
adverb
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0
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The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.

A book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past.

noun
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(grammar) The past tense.
noun
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0
Having already happened; in the past; finished. [from 14th c.]

Past glories.

adjective
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(postmodifier) Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago. [from 15th c.]
adjective
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Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous. [from 15th c.]

During the past year.

adjective
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(grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state. [from 18th c.]

Past tense.

adjective
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In a direction that passes.

I watched him walk past.

adverb
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Beyond in place, quantity or time.

The room past mine.

Count past twenty.

Past midnight.

preposition
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The definition of past is former or is something that has already happened.

An example of past is someone's ex-boyfriend.

adjective
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1
The past is what has already happened.

An example of the past is yesterday.

noun
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1
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No longer current; gone by; over.

His youth is past.

adjective
0
1
Having existed or occurred in an earlier time; bygone.

Past events; in years past.

adjective
0
1
not put it past someone
  • To judge that someone is not incapable of engaging in some specified action.
idiom
0
0

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

not put it past someone

Origin of past

  • Middle English from past participle of passen to pass pass
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • From Middle English, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by"), whence Modern English pass.
    From Wiktionary

Past Sentence Examples

  • They had to move forward, and leave the past behind them.

  • He brushed past her.

  • Lisa brushed past Giddon without looking at him.

  • Don't look at the past so negatively.

  • It was past midnight.

More sentences →

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Also Mentioned In

Words near past in the Dictionary