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.

---

Example Sentences

"We look at all of the data we have in our telephones, CCTV, the audio. There's that wealth of documentary evidence. And of course, when you go back such a long time, witnesses pass away."

From BBC • May 26, 2026

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

From Slate • May 8, 2026

Presidents typically raise as much money as possible in the year after leaving the White House because it becomes more challenging as time passes, they become less relevant and major donors pass away.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

“If I were to pass away tomorrow, it would be premature,” he said at the time, “but it wouldn’t be unheard of. And so, no, I don’t fear that.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

‘You have chosen the Evening; but my love is given to the Morning. And my heart forebodes that soon it will pass away for ever.’

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Related Words

• die
• expire
• perish
• succumb