past

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   so as to pass a given point

   every hour a train goes past

2. 2
   noun

   the time that has elapsed

   forget the past

3. 3
   noun

   a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret)

   reporters dug into the candidate's past

4. 4
   noun

   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

5. 5
   adj

   Having already happened; in the past; finished.

   past glories

6. 6
   adj

   Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.

   That had been, what, three years past?

7. 7
   adj

   Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.

   during the past year

8. 8
   adj

   Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

   past tense

Etymology

From Middle English passed, past participle of passen (“to pass, to go by”), whence Modern English pass.