past

 
Pronunciation: /pɑːst/

adjective

  • gone by in time and no longer existing: the danger is now past
  • [attributive] belonging to a former time: they made a study of the reasons why past attempts had failed he is a past chairman of the society
  • [attributive] (of a specified period of time) occurring before and leading up to the time of speaking or writing: the band has changed over the past twelve months
  • [attributive] Grammar (of a tense) expressing an action that has happened or a state that previously existed.

noun

  • 1 (usually the past) the time before the moment of speaking or writing: she found it hard to make ends meet in the past the war-damaged church is preserved as a reminder of the past
  • the history of a person or place: the monuments act as guidelines through the country’s colourful past
  • informal a part of a person’s history that is considered to be shameful: the heroine was a lady with a past
  • 2 Grammar a past tense or form of a verb: a simple past of the first conjugation

preposition

  • 1to or on the further side of: he rode on past the crossroads
  • in front of or from one side to the other of: he began to drive slowly past the houses
  • 2beyond in time; later than: by this time it was past 3.30 my watch said twenty past twelve
  • 3no longer capable of: he is past giving the best advice
  • beyond the limits or scope of: I was long past caring and immediately fell asleep on the bed

adverb

  • 1so as to pass from one side of something to the other: a flotilla of glossy limousines swept past
  • 2used to indicate the lapse of time: a week went past and nothing changed

Phrases

not put it past someone

believe someone to be capable of doing a particular wrong or rash thing: I wouldn’t put it past him to slip something into the drinks

past it

British informal too old to be of any use or any good at anything: he was taken into his father-in-law’s firm and became a partner when the old man got past it

Derivatives

pastness

noun

Origin:

Middle English: variant of passed, past participle of pass1