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past
[past]
adjective
gone by or elapsed in time.
It was a bad time, but it's all past now.
of, having existed in, or having occurred during a time previous to the present; bygone.
the past glories of the Incas.
gone by just before the present time; just passed.
during the past year.
ago.
six days past.
having formerly been or served as; previous; earlier.
three past presidents of the club.
Grammar., designating a tense, or other verb formation or construction, that refers to events or states in time gone by.
noun
the time gone by.
He could remember events far back in the past.
the history of a person, nation, etc..
our country's glorious past.
what has existed or has happened at some earlier time.
Try to forget the past, now that your troubles are over.
the events, phenomena, conditions, etc., that characterized an earlier historical period.
That hat is something out of the past.
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.
Grammar., past tense.
adverb
so as to pass by or beyond; by.
The troops marched past.
preposition
beyond in time; later than; after.
past noon;
half past six.
beyond in space or position; farther on than.
the house just past the church.
in a direction so as to pass by or go beyond.
We went past the house by mistake.
beyond in amount, number, etc..
past the maximum age for enlisting in the army.
beyond the reach, scope, influence, or power of.
He is past hope of recovery.
past
/ pɑːst /
adjective
completed, finished, and no longer in existence
past happiness
denoting or belonging to all or a segment of the time that has elapsed at the present moment
the past history of the world
denoting a specific unit of time that immediately precedes the present one
the past month
(prenominal) denoting a person who has held and relinquished an office or position; former
a past president
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
the period of time or a segment of it that has elapsed
forget the past
the history, experience, or background of a nation, person, etc
a soldier with a distinguished past
an earlier period of someone's life, esp one that contains events kept secret or regarded as disreputable
grammar
a past tense
a verb in a past tense
adverb
at a specified or unspecified time before the present; ago
three years past
on or onwards
I greeted him but he just walked past
preposition
beyond in time
it's past midnight
beyond in place or position
the library is past the church
moving beyond; in a direction that passes
he walked past me
beyond or above the reach, limit, or scope of
his foolishness is past comprehension
beyond or above in number or amount
to count past ten
informal, unable to perform the tasks one could do when one was younger
to consider someone capable of (the action specified)
Usage
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of past1
Idioms and Phrases
Example Sentences
Attendance at this year’s conference, which is expected to total more than 1,000 people, is lower than in past years, he said.
Twelve acts were nominated for the 2025 award, which rewards the best British or Irish album of the past 12 months.
She claimed that she had seen one son for only “45 min in the past 5 years” and that the other has visited only four times since 2021.
While EA says the mass-combat game has won over 100 million players in the past two decades, "Battlefield" lost ground to "Call of Duty" over the years.
Kenvue has said in the past it has studied the science and hasn’t found any causal link between the use of Tylenol in pregnancy and autism.
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