pass off

British  

verb

1. to be or cause to be accepted or circulated in a false character or identity

   he passed the fake diamonds off as real

2. (intr) to come to a gradual end; disappear

   eventually the pain passed off

3. to emit (a substance) as a gas or vapour, or (of a substance) to be emitted in this way

4. (intr) to take place

   the meeting passed off without disturbance

5. (tr) to set aside or disregard

   I managed to pass off his insult

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pass off Idioms  

1. Misrepresent something or someone, as in They tried to pass off that piece of glass as a gemstone , or Bill passed her off as his sister . [Late 1700s] Also see palm off .

2. Be completed or carried out, take place, as in The meeting passed off without incident . [Late 1700s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pass off

There are also concerns it could be too easy to circumvent checks in the fledgling initiatives, and pass off AI-produced books as human-written.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Lehkonen collected the loose puck and took it the length of the ice before deflecting a centering pass off Kempe’s skate and by Forsberg for a short-handed goal, his second score of the series.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026

“We didn’t pass off the full tariff, and we mitigated wherever we could.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

They add that the US "is NOT going to pass off illegal aliens seeking asylum from our country to Canada and vice versa. This is part of being good neighbors and partners".

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2025

He saw me coming and got the pass off to my man at the top of the key, and I turned and ran back to my man.

From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers