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• pas
  pas

  noun

  a step or series of steps in ballet.
• PA's
  PA's

  plural noun

  mountaineering a type of rock boot
• PAS
  PAS

  abbreviation

  physician-assisted suicide: a practice in which a terminally-ill person requests a medical practitioner to administer a lethal dose of medication

pas

American  

[pah] / pɑ /

noun

pas plural

1. a step or series of steps in ballet.

2. right of precedence.

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pas ¹ British  

/ pɑ, pɑː /

noun

1. a dance step or movement, esp in ballet

2. rare the right to precede; precedence

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PA's ² British  

plural noun

1. mountaineering a type of rock boot

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PAS ³ British  

abbreviation

1. physician-assisted suicide: a practice in which a terminally-ill person requests a medical practitioner to administer a lethal dose of medication

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• pas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pas

1695–1705; < French < Latin passus. See pace ¹

Example Sentences

It is a pas de deux of contrasts—roughness and polish, hardness and softness, danger and safety.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

On this week’s Slate Plus exclusive, Timothée Chalamet enters the pas de deux between an Oscar-nominated actor and a public itching for a villain.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

These comparisons aren’t exactly nuanced but they are stark and, for most of the film, Franco just asks us to watch them move together and apart, in a strange, avoidant pas de deux.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026

The faux pas happened during a show on Gass’ birthday in Sydney, Australia.

From Salon • Jan. 21, 2026

Translated into English, “faux pas” means “false step,” but faux pas are done all the time.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood