past

[ past ]

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

1. the time gone by:

   He could remember events far back in the past.

2. the history of a person, nation, etc.:

   our country's glorious past.

3. what has existed or has happened at some earlier time:

   Try to forget the past, now that your troubles are over.

4. the events, phenomena, conditions, etc., that characterized an earlier historical period:

   That hat is something out of the past.

5. 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.

6. Grammar. past tense.

adverb

1. so as to pass by or beyond; by:

   The troops marched past.

preposition

1. beyond in time; later than; after:

   past noon;

   half past six.

2. beyond in space or position; farther on than:

   the house just past the church.

3. in a direction so as to pass by or go beyond:

   We went past the house by mistake.

4. beyond in amount, number, etc.:

   past the maximum age for enlisting in the army.

5. beyond the reach, scope, influence, or power of:

   He is past hope of recovery.

past

/ pɑːst /

adjective

1. completed, finished, and no longer in existence

   past happiness

2. denoting or belonging to all or a segment of the time that has elapsed at the present moment

   the past history of the world

3. denoting a specific unit of time that immediately precedes the present one

   the past month

4. prenominal denoting a person who has held and relinquished an office or position; former

   a past president

5. 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

1. the past
   the period of time or a segment of it that has elapsed

   forget the past

2. the history, experience, or background of a nation, person, etc

   a soldier with a distinguished past

3. an earlier period of someone's life, esp one that contains events kept secret or regarded as disreputable
4. grammar
   1. a past tense
   2. a verb in a past tense

adverb

1. at a specified or unspecified time before the present; ago

   three years past

2. on or onwards

   I greeted him but he just walked past

preposition

1. beyond in time

   it's past midnight

2. beyond in place or position

   the library is past the church

3. moving beyond; in a direction that passes

   he walked past me

4. beyond or above the reach, limit, or scope of

   his foolishness is past comprehension

5. beyond or above in number or amount

   to count past ten

6. past it informal.
   unable to perform the tasks one could do when one was younger
7. not put it past someone
   to consider someone capable of (the action specified)

Usage

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of past¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of past¹

C14: from passed, past participle of pass

Idioms and Phrases

• live in (the past)
• not put something past someone

Example Sentences

In their past calls for attacks on Western targets, AQAP has focused on putting bombs on planes, not revenge attacks.

From The Daily Beast

In the middle of all of that past suffering and present-day conflict, this Cosby bomb was dropped.

From The Daily Beast

I gotta say—I think this past year was pretty bad for music.

From The Daily Beast

Many of those who have become cops in New York seem to have ceased to address such minor offenses over the past few days.

From The Daily Beast

RELATED: NYPD Salutes Murdered Officer Wenjian Liu (Photos) Police motorcycles rumbled past.

From The Daily Beast

Truth is a torch, but one of enormous size; so that we slink past it in rather a blinking fashion for fear it should burn us.

From Project Gutenberg

Within the past thirty years civilization has rapidly taken possession of this lovely region.

From Project Gutenberg

Without the former quality, knowledge of the past is uninstructive; without the latter, it is deceptive.

From Project Gutenberg

And I finished all with a brief historical account of affairs and events in England for about a hundred years past.

From Project Gutenberg

Venice is a City of the Past, and wears her faded yet queenly robes more gracefully by night than by day.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• history