Passover

[ pas-oh-ver, pahs- ]

/ ˈpæsˌoʊ vər, ˈpɑs- /

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noun

Also called Pesach, Pesah. a Jewish festival that commemorates the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and is marked chiefly by the Seder ritual and the eating of matzoth. It begins on the 14th day of Nisan and is celebrated for eight days by Orthodox and Conservative Jews outside of Israel and for seven days by Reform Jews and Jews in Israel.

(lowercase) paschal lamb (def. 1).

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Origin of Passover

1520–30; noun use of verb phrase pass over, as translation of Hebrew pesaḥ

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Passover in a sentence

The sun is setting as we pass over the open mines of the tar sands.
Our Trip to The Climate War's Ground Zero|Darren Aronofsky|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Pentagon disregarded the order and sent two huge planes to pass over a group of tiny uninhabited islands south-west of Japan.
U.S. Uses B-52 Bombers to Brush Back Chinese Expansion|Nico Hines|November 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Seafood “is seldom well cooked” and milk puddings are “the kind of thing that one would prefer to pass over in silence.”
Menu for a Moveable Feast: 10 Famous Authors and Their Favorite Foods & Recipes|Nicole Villeneuve|October 12, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Pluto in your sign will see a near-full Moon pass over it like a magnifying lens, amping its transformative power.
What the Stars Hold for Your Week|Starsky + Cox|August 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST

The insolent tone of him was like having one's face slapped, and it didn't pass over Lyn's head by any means.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Take a millstone and grind meal: uncover thy shame, strip thy shoulder, make bare thy legs, pass over the rivers.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given him: and let seven times pass over him.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
And the pass over the mountain ridge that would take them across the state line.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
Then, why pass over the gleam of infernal joy that lights his face after the whole is over?
The Circular Study|Anna Katharine Green

British Dictionary definitions for Passover (1 of 2)

pass over

verb

(tr, adverb) to take no notice of; disregardthey passed me over in the last round of promotions

(intr, preposition) to disregard (something bad or embarrassing)we shall pass over your former faults

British Dictionary definitions for Passover (2 of 2)

Passover

/ (ˈpɑːsˌəʊvə) /

noun

Also called: Pesach, Pesah, Feast of the Unleavened Bread an eight-day Jewish festival beginning on Nisan 15 and celebrated in commemoration of the passing over or sparing of the Israelites in Egypt, when God smote the firstborn of the Egyptians (Exodus 12)Related adjective: paschal

another term for the Paschal Lamb

Word Origin for Passover

C16: from pass over, translation of Hebrew pesah, from pāsah to pass over

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Passover (1 of 2)

Passover

The deliverance of the Israelites from the worst of the plagues of Egypt, and the annual festival kept afterward in memory of the event. Through Moses, God told the Israelites to prepare a special meal to be eaten in haste the evening before their escape from Egypt (see also Egypt) (see Exodus), with a whole roasted lamb as the main dish. The blood from the lamb was to be used to mark the Israelites' houses. That night, God would send the angel of Death to kill the firstborn males of the Egyptians (this was the worst of the plagues of Egypt), but God would see the blood on the Israelites' houses, and he would command his angel to “pass over” — to kill no one there. God told Moses that the Israelites were to repeat the meal each spring on the anniversary of their departure from Egypt. The Jews (see also Jews) keep the festival of Passover to this day.

notes for Passover

The Last Supper of Jesus and his Apostles was a Passover meal. The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus were explained by the Apostles as the new Passover of the New Testament.

Cultural definitions for Passover (2 of 2)

Passover

Among Jews (see also Jews), the festival commemorating the Exodus, the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt (see also Egypt). During Passover, unleavened bread, called matzo, is eaten. In the course of the festival, the story of the Exodus is read.

Other Idioms and Phrases with Passover

pass over

See pass by, def. 2.

See pass away.