past

American  

[past] / pæst /

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 British  

/ 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 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. informal unable to perform the tasks one could do when one was younger

7. to consider someone capable of (the action specified)

past Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing past

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

---

Usage

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

Etymology

Origin of past

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

Explanation

Past events have already happened — if it happened an Ice Age ago, a century ago, or even a minute ago, it's in the past. They say the past is history and it's true. If you have ever been accused of "living in the past," you cling to what was instead of reveling in what is. If you hear that a person or a rare object in an antique store "has a past," get ready for a colorful story. As an adjective, past describes what is no longer current, like the past president of a club or past fashion craze — it's over: its time has passed.

Example Sentences

They point out that the core rate has been more stable than headline PCE inflation, hewing closely to a range of 2.8% to 3% in the past two years.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026

“The past and present were endlessly intermingled,” Ms. Phillips recalls: “Every kid in town knew that West Virginia had seceded from Virginia to stand for the Union.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

He has been convicted of hate speech multiple times and has been denied entry to the UK twice in the past year.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

Nvidia shares were up 1.1% Friday at $200.61, having risen 15% in the past month.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

But after a moment of looking at all that, he saw past it.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Related Words

• earlier
• early
• late
• old
• preceding
• previous
• prior
• recent