On high behests his angels to and fro Passed
frequent. --Milton.
Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, And
from their bodies passed. --Coleridge.
2. To move or be transferred from one state or condition to
another; to change possession, condition, or
circumstances; to undergo transition; as, the business has
passed into other hands.
Others, dissatisfied with what they have, . . . pass
from just to unjust. --Sir W.
Temple.
3. To move beyond the range of the senses or of knowledge; to
pass away; hence, to disappear; to vanish; to depart;
specifically, to depart from life; to die.
Disturb him not, let him pass paceably. --Shak.
Beauty is a charm, but soon the charm will pass.
--Dryden.
The passing of the sweetest soul That ever looked
with human eyes. --Tennyson.
4. To move or to come into being or under notice; to come and
go in consciousness; hence, to take place; to occur; to
happen; to come; to occur progressively or in succession;
to be present transitorily.
So death passed upon all men. --Rom. v. 12.
Our own consciousness of what passes within our own
mind. --I. Watts.
5. To go by or glide by, as time; to elapse; to be spent; as,
their vacation passed pleasantly.
Now the time is far passed. --Mark vi. 35
6. To go from one person to another; hence, to be given and
taken freely; as, clipped coin will not pass; to obtain
general acceptance; to be held or regarded; to circulate;
to be current; -- followed by for before a word denoting
value or estimation. ``Let him pass for a man.'' --Shak.
False eloquence passeth only where true is not
understood. --Felton.
This will not pass for a fault in him. --Atterbury.
7. To advance through all the steps or stages necessary to
validity or effectiveness; to be carried through a body
that has power to sanction or reject; to receive
legislative sanction; to be enacted; as, the resolution
passed; the bill passed both houses of Congress.
8. To go through any inspection or test successfully; to be
approved or accepted; as, he attempted the examination,
but did not expect to pass.
9. To be suffered to go on; to be tolerated; hence, to
continue; to live along. ``The play may pass.'' --Shak.
10. To go unheeded or neglected; to proceed without hindrance
or opposition; as, we let this act pass.
11. To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess. [Obs.]
``This passes, Master Ford.'' --Shak.
12. To take heed; to care. [Obs.]
As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not.
--Shak.
13. To go through the intestines. --Arbuthnot.
14. (Law) To be conveyed or transferred by will, deed, or
other instrument of conveyance; as, an estate passes by a
certain clause in a deed. --Mozley & W.
15. (Fencing) To make a lunge or pass; to thrust.
16. (Card Playing & other games) To decline to take an
optional action when it is one's turn, as to decline to
bid, or to bet, or to play a card; in euchre, to decline
to make the trump.
She would not play, yet must not pass. --Prior.
17. In football, hockey, etc., to make a pass; to transfer
the ball, etc., to another player of one's own side.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{To bring to pass}, {To come to pass}. See under {Bring}, and
{Come}.
{To pass away}, to disappear; to die; to vanish. ``The
heavens shall pass away.'' --2 Pet. iii. 10. ``I thought
to pass away before, but yet alive I am.'' --Tennyson.
{To pass by}, to go near and beyond a certain person or
place; as, he passed by as we stood there.
{To pass into}, to change by a gradual transmission; to blend
or unite with.
{To pass on} or {upon}.
(a) To happen to; to come upon; to affect. ``So death
passed upon all men.'' --Rom. v. 12. ``Provided no
indirect act pass upon our prayers to define them.''
--Jer. Taylor.
(b) To determine concerning; to give judgment or sentence
upon. ``We may not pass upon his life.'' --Shak.
{To pass off}, to go away; to cease; to disappear; as, an
agitation passes off.
{To pass over}, to go from one side or end to the other; to
cross, as a river, road, or bridge.