First recorded in 1875–80; noun use of verb phrase march past
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She then took the salute as colonel during a traditional march-past.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2025
He invited Donald Trump for the 2017 celebrations, and the then U.S. president was so impressed by the French march-past that he asked Pentagon officials to explore a similar parade in celebration of American troops.
From Reuters ● Jul. 14, 2023
First comes the plot: no longer some local difficulty but a ramshackle tale involving the putative murder of Kate Moss—little more than an excuse, it turns out, for a march-past of middle-ranking celebrities.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 15, 2016
In Glasgow, the prime minister and the Prince of Wales will attend a Commonwealth service, followed by a procession and march-past.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 3, 2014
Sunday was spent quietly in visiting various interesting places, after church, and on the succeeding day the Prince presented colours to a Native regiment and watched a march-past of troops.
From The Life of King Edward VII with a sketch of the career of King George V by Hopkins, J. Castell (John Castell)
A clockwise march past the 85 exhibits develops a chronology from the birth of modern war in the tangled British and French corpses of J.M.W.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Thousands of protesters are expected on the National Mall for an hour of speeches and a march past the U.S.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
We watched the police cars come around the corner to signal the start, then we watched the local high school cheerleaders and majorettes march past.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2023
Soldiers from India's military regiments march past as India's president, prime minister and other guests watch on.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2023
From there we watch as people dressed like snowflakes, like elves, like rabbits, like sugar plum fairies, march past us, strangely truncated because we’re looking down on them.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
