pass away

Idioms  

1. Also,. Die, as in He passed away last week, or After Grandma passes on we'll sell the land, or I hear he's about to pass over. All these terms are euphemisms for dying, although the verb pass alone as well as pass away have been used in the sense of “pass out of existence, die” since the 1300s. The two variants—adding on [c. 1800] and over [c. 1900]—allude to moving to some other-worldly realm.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pass away

Nick Hitchon died from cancer in 2023, becoming the second member of the cast to pass away after Lynn Johnson 10 years earlier.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

There was a moment last season when Roberto de Zerbi turned to his Tottenham players and asked: "Did we pass away?"

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

“There’s so much life to live. We’re seeing many of our parents and our friends’ parents pass away, and it makes you realize that life can feel like a conveyor belt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

When his children pass away, he continues, maybe they’ll be buried on the moon, or on Mars.

From Slate ● May 8, 2026

I will hide there, and the hand of god will wipe all tears from our eyes; there will be no crying, neither will there be any more death, because the former things will pass away.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• die
• expire
• perish
• succumb