passing
going by or past; elapsing: He was feeling better with each passing day.
brief, fleeting, or fortuitous; transitory: to take a passing fancy to something.
done, given, etc., in passing; cursory: a passing mention.
surpassing, preeminent, or extreme.
indicating satisfactory performance in a course, on a paper, in a test, etc.: a passing grade on a test.
living or being known as a member of a racial, religious, or ethnic group other than one's own, especially living and being known as a white person although of Black ancestry: Employees with a passing racial identity expressed frequent discomfort in the workplace.
Sometimes Offensive. being known or perceived as a gender other than the one assigned at birth: Passing women who dress and live as men have existed throughout history.The environment might be safer for a passing trans man than for someone who is obviously transgender.
surpassingly; exceedingly; very.
the act of a person or thing that passes or causes something to pass.
a means or place of passage.
Idioms about passing
in passing, by the way; incidentally: The speaker mentioned his latest book in passing.
Origin of passing
1Other words from passing
- pass·ing·ly, adverb
- pass·ing·ness, noun
- un·pass·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use passing in a sentence
And the houses stood drawn up in a row alongside the track to watch for these passings.
Cabin Fever | B. M. BowerTen passings of the pilgrims off to Mecca His wife has lain in that sarcophagus, Embalmed and waiting, as he thinks, to rise.
The Immortal Lure | Cale Young RiceHer mother knew its times and seasons, and its passings into abeyance, not into extinction.
The Story of Louie | Oliver OnionsMy muse has other things to sing of besides rallies and charges, scrimmages and drop kicks, touch-downs and passings.
The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch | Talbot Baines ReedOutside still lay the broad avenues of dark where one heard strange passings; where one was in touch with the ungoverned.
The Web of the Golden Spider | Frederick Orin Bartlett
British Dictionary definitions for passing
/ (ˈpɑːsɪŋ) /
transitory or momentary: a passing fancy
cursory or casual in action or manner: a passing reference
archaic to an extreme degree: the events were passing strange
a place where or means by which one may pass, cross, ford, etc
a euphemism for death
in passing by the way; incidentally: he mentioned your visit in passing
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
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