passage

¹ American  

[pas-ij] / ˈpæs ɪdʒ /

noun

1. a portion or section of a written work; a paragraph, verse, etc..

   a passage of Scripture.

2. a phrase or other division of a musical work.

3. Fine Arts. an area, section, or detail of a work, especially with respect to its qualities of execution.

   passages of sensitive brushwork.

4. an act or instance of passing from one place, condition, etc., to another; transit.

5. the permission, right, or freedom to pass.

   to refuse passage through a territory.

6. the route or course by which a person or thing passes or travels.

7. a hall or corridor; passageway.

8. an opening or entrance into, through, or out of something.

   the nasal passages.

9. a voyage by water from one point to another.

   a rough passage across the English Channel.

10. the privilege of conveyance as a passenger.

    to book passage on an ocean liner.

11. the price charged for accommodation on a ship; fare.

12. a lapse or passing, as of time.

13. a progress or course, as of events.

14. the enactment into law of a legislative measure.

15. an interchange of communications, confidences, etc., between persons.

16. an exchange of blows; altercation or dispute.

    a passage at arms.

17. the act of causing something to pass; transference; transmission.

18. an evacuation of the bowels.

19. an occurrence, incident, or event.

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verb (used without object)

passaged, passaging

1. to make a passage; cross; pass; voyage.

passage ² American  

[pas-ij, puh-sahzh] / ˈpæs ɪdʒ, pəˈsɑʒ /

noun

1. a slow, cadenced trot executed with great elevation of the feet and characterized by a moment of suspension before the feet strike the ground.

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verb (used without object)

passaged, passaging

1. (of a horse) to execute such a movement.

2. (of a rider) to cause a horse to execute such a movement.

verb (used with object)

passaged, passaging

1. to cause (a horse) to passage.

passage ¹ British  

/ ˈpæsɪdʒ /

noun

1. a channel, opening, etc, through or by which a person or thing may pass

2. music a section or division of a piece, movement, etc

3. a way, as in a hall or lobby

4. a section of a written work, speech, etc, esp one of moderate length

5. a journey, esp by ship

   the outward passage took a week

6. the act or process of passing from one place, condition, etc, to another

   passage of a gas through a liquid

7. the permission, right, or freedom to pass

   to be denied passage through a country

8. the enactment of a law or resolution by a legislative or deliberative body

9. an evacuation of the bowels

10. rare an exchange or interchange, as of blows, words, etc (esp in the phrase passage of arms )

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passage ² British  

/ ˈpæsɑːʒ, ˈpæsɪdʒ /

noun

1. a sideways walk in which diagonal pairs of feet are lifted alternately

2. a cadenced lofty trot, the moment of suspension being clearly defined

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verb

1. to move or cause to move at a passage

Etymology

Origin of passage¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old French, equivalent to pass(er) “to cross, go through” + -age noun suffix; see origin at pass, -age

Origin of passage²

First recorded in 1750–60; from French verb passager, variant of passéger, from Italian passeggiare “to walk, stroll”; see pace ¹

Explanation

Passage describes the act of passing or traveling from one place to the next. People often use the word passage to specifically refer to a journey by ship, as in, "The passage to America was long and hard." A section of written work or music can also be called a passage. You can think of a passage of music as moving the listener from one part of the piece to the next. And, finally, you can call a path a passage or passageway, especially when it's narrow. A street is not a passage, but the little tunnel behind the secret door in your closet is certainly a passage.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

passage passaged passaging

As a result, the passage of Measure G repealed Measure J.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

If that southern passage becomes too dangerous, the remaining escape route runs north through Egypt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The draft communique inserts previously unused language targeting "freedom of navigation in and overflight above straits" while separately calling for "unimpeded" passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Houthis previously established an application system allowing selective ship passage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

He wrote an exception note to the Red Zone executive order, allowing them legal passage to Spirit Lake.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

The scientists passaged a bat coronavirus from Laos that is a distant cousin of SARS-CoV-2 through human cells and in mice to see whether it acquired a specific mutation that would help it infect people.

From Science Magazine ● Oct. 18, 2022

The infected cells were passaged the next day and selected in puromycin for 3 days.

From Nature ● Oct. 10, 2017

Because no airborne transmission was observed in experiment 2, A/H5N1wildtype and A/H5N1HA Q222L,G224S PB2 E627K were serially passaged in ferrets to allow adaptation for efficient replication in mammals.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 21, 2012

Comparison of airborne transmission of experimental passaged A/H5N1 and 2009 pandemic A/H1N1 viruses in individual ferrets.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 21, 2012

Andra passaged like a strongly bitted charger to the back door, and there ran away with himself, flourishing in the air a pair of very dirty heels.

From The Lilac Sunbonnet by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)

By introducing mutations and passaging, Kawaoka and Fouchier managed to tweak the virus so it could spread between laboratory ferrets, a stand-in for humans.

From Science Magazine ● Oct. 18, 2022

The Sabin vaccine was created in the 1940s and ’50s by passaging the virus through animal cells until scientists found a suitably weakened form.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 10, 2020

In those studies, H5N1 viruses were made transmissible via respiratory droplets among ferrets by engineering the virus; well-described and published protocols including reverse genetics, reassortment, and passaging of viruses in mammals were used.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 21, 2012

Although we observed several other mutations, their occurrence was not consistent among the airborne viruses, indicating that of the heterogeneous virus populations generated by passaging in ferrets, viruses with different genotypes were transmissible.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 21, 2012

"I like you better, Charley," said she, curveting her horse, and passaging him alternately from side to side.

From Roland Cashel Volume I (of II) by Lever, Charles James

Related Words

• clause
• paragraph
• portion
• quotation
• reading
• section
• sentence
• text
• transition
• verse