pass 
Certain passages of Scripture we cannot, without injury 
to truth, past by here in silence. 
T. Btirnet, Theory of the Earth. 
To pass in (a) To permit to enter : as, the doorkeeper 
poised us in. (b) To hand in or hand over : as, the com- 
mittee passed in their report. To pass in one's checks 
or chips, to hand over one's checks to the dealer for settle- 
ment at the end of the game, as in gambling ; hence, to 
come to one's last account ; die. See chipl, n., 6. (Slang, 
U. S. ] To pass muster. See muster. To pass off, to 
palm off put into circulation : as, to pass off a bad dollar. 
To pass (anything or any one) off as or for, to pre 
tend that anything, etc., is what it is given out for ; reflex- 
ively, to pretend to be ; assume the character or r61e of : 
as, he passed himself of as a bachelor. 
Whether in the 17th century an impostor . . . might 
not have passed himself off as a bishop. Macaulay. 
To pass on or upon, to impose fraudulently ; put upon, 
as a trick. 
The indulgent mother did her care employ, 
And passed it on her husband for a boy. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., ix. 57. 
TO pass one's word, to make a formal promise or en- 
gagement. 
Father, thy word is pass'd; man shall find grace. 
Milton, P. L., iii. 227. 
To pass over, (at) To spend ; exhaust. 
We will, with going up & downe, and wrangling & ex- 
postulating, pass over y= sommer before we will goe. 
Cmhman, quoted in Bradford's Plymouth Plantation, p. 67. 
(6) To disregard ; omit to notice. 
There are two exceptional churches in Normandy which 
should not be passed over in silence. 
J. Fergusson, Hist Arch., I. 512. 
To pass publication. See publication. To pass round 
the hat. See Aafi. To pass the hail, see hail'i. To 
pass the seals, to receive authentication by the affixing 
of the seal of state, as in the case of a patent for lands. 
To pass the time Of day, to salute or greet by some re- 
mark suitable to the time of day, the weather, etc.; ex- 
change greetings. [Colloq.j 
The police never try to turn me away; they're very 
friendly ; they'll pass the time of day with me, or that, from 
knowing me so long in Oxford-street. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II. 489. 
pass (pas), n. [< ME. pas, pase, pace (see pace!) ; 
= F. passe, condition, = Sp. paso, pace, pas- 
sage, etc., = Pg. It. passo (= MD. D. pas = 
MLG. pas = G. pase = Sw. pass Dan. pas), a 
passage ; partly from the verb pass, and partly 
identical with the orig. noun pace, < L. passus, 
a step, pace, footstep, track, in ML. and Bom. 
also a passage, pass (narrow entrance or pas- 
sage), toll for passage, place, etc. : see pace 1 , n., 
and pass, v.~\ 1. A passage or way through 
which one may pass ; especially, a narrow way ; 
a defile in a mountain. Specifically (a) In phys. 
geog., a depression in a mountain-range through which 
communication may be had from one slope of the range 
to the other, or through which a road may be made or a 
path opened. The height of the passes in any chain of 
mountains usually bears a certain relation to the crest- 
height of that chain. The pass-height of a range is, as 
compared with the crest-height, rarely as low as one to 
two, and is more often as three to four, or as five to six. 
Noght warre of the weghes, that waited his harme, [^Egis- 
thus| 
Past furth thurgh the pase with his proude knightes. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 13013. 
The syxte, hit is a path of pees ; ge, thorw the pas of Al- 
toun 
Pouerte myghte passe with-oute peril of robbynge. 
Piers Plowman (C), xvii. 139. 
I perceived that the whole pass was guarded, and, wher- 
ever the road was a little wider or turned a corner round 
a rock or a clump of trees, there were other long guns 
peeping out from among the bushes. 
R. Curzon, Monast. in the Levant, p. 234. 
(b) A channel connecting a body of water with the sea; 
also, one of the channels in the delta of a river : as, the 
passes of the Mississippi. [Southern U. S.] 
Chef Menteur, one of the watery threads of a tangled 
skein of passes between the lakes and the open Gulf. 
6. W. Cable, The Grandissimes, p. 355. 
(c) In mining, an opening from the stopes through the 
attle down to the level below, through which the ore is 
allowed to descend into the cars or wheelbarrows for 
transportation to the shaft, to be raised to the surface. 
Also called mitt. 
2. State or condition ; especially, a critical or 
embarrassing state or condition; conjuncture 
of affairs ; crisis. 
We are glad to hear the Business is brought to so good 
a Pass, and that the Capitulations are so honourable. 
Howell, Letters, I. v. 33. 
Nothing were the Clergy, but at the same pass, or rather 
worse, then when the Saxons came first in. 
Milton, Hist. Eng., iii. 
But now the World is come to another Pass, and we all 
love to live at Ease, and shun Painstaking. 
N. Bailey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, I. 194. 
Still the darkness increased, till it reach'd such a pass 
That the sextoness hasten'd to turn on the gas. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 43. 
3. In a rolling-mill: (a) The aperture formed 
by corresponding grooves in the rolls. This ap- 
erture has the form which is to be given to the bar in sec- 
tion, whether it be that of a rail, a tire, an angle-iron, a T- 
or I-beam, a half-round, etc. (6) A single passage of 
a plate or bar between the rolls. E. H. Knigli t. 
4314 
4. Permission or license to pass; a permit 
or written authority to come or go ; a ticket or 
writing giving one free admission or transit: 
as, a, pass to the theater; a railway pass; also 
often, by abbreviation, a passport. 
Who would not send each year blank passes o'er, 
Rather than keep such strangers from our shore? 
Hughes, Tofts and Margaretta. 
The next step was to get a free pass to Washington, for 
I'd no desire to waste my substance on railroad compa- 
nies. L. X. Alcott, Hospital Sketches, p. 7. 
5. lufeticitig, a thrust; a lunge. 
In a dozen posse* between yourself and him, he shall not 
exceed you three hits. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 173. 
6f. A sally of wit; a jest. 
" Steal by line and level " is an excellent pass of pate. 
Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 244. 
7. A passing of the hand over or along any- 
thing; a manipulation of a mesmerist. 
Z's passes or personal contact may very probably have 
no effect whatever. Proc. Soc. Psych. Research, I. 252. 
8. Successful or satisfactory issue from an ex- 
amination, inspection, or other test; particu- 
larly, in a university, a degree or certificate ob- 
tained without honors. 
The good news of the pass will be a set-off against the 
few small debts. 
Collegian's Guide, p. 264. (College Wordt and Customs.) 
9f. Stretch; extent. 
All the passe of Lancasshyre 
He went both ferre and nere. 
Lytell Geste of Robyn Hade (Child's Ballads, V. 106). 
10f. A kind of raisin-wine. 
Nowe passe is made, that Aff rike useth make, 
Afore vyndage. 
PaUadiui, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 204. 
lit. Branch; division. 
The speces of this paas shullen he moore largely in hir 
chapitres folwynge declared. Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
12. A simple sort of fishway, consisting of a 
sloping trough, chiefly used on low dams. 13. 
A frame on which the stones or voussoirs rest 
in the construction of an arch; a centering. 
[Prov. Eng. ] Pass examination. See examination. 
Pass Of arms, a passage of arms. = Syn. 1. Passage, etc. 
See way. 
pass. An abbreviation of passive and passus. 
passable (pas'a-bl), a. [< F. passable = Sp. pas- 
able = Pg. passavel = It. passabile, < ML. pas- 
sabilis, that may be passed (found in sense 
'that must be passed or accepted'), < passare, 
pass: see pass,?).] 1. Capable of being passed, 
traveled, navigated, traversed, penetrated, or 
the like : as, the roads are not passable; the 
stream is passable in boats. 
What, all wide open ? 'Tis the way to sin, 
Doubtless ; but I must on ; the gates of hell 
Are not more passable than these. 
Beau, and Fl., Captain, iv. 5. 
I went to view how St. Martin's Lane might be made 
morepossa&fe into y= Strand. Evelyn, Diary, May 14, 1662. 
2. That may be passed from hand to hand as 
a thing of value ; current ; receivable : as, bills 
passable in lieu of coin. 
Go back ; the virtue of your name 
Is not here passable. Shak. , Cor., v. 2. 13. 
I've seen folks that had to rub the silver off a thrip to 
tell whether it was passable or not. 
The Century, XXXVIII. 912. 
3. Such as may be allowed to pass ; allowable ; 
admissible ; tolerable ; reaching or just rising 
above mediocrity. 
Many a man of passable information, at the present day, 
reads scarcely anything but reviews ; and before long a 
man of erudition will be little better than a mere walking 
catalogue. Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 168. 
There are many pages of passable rhyme, with here and 
there a quaintness, a fragrance, and here and there a 
thought. The Academy, June 29, 1889, p. 445. 
passableness (pas'a-bl-nes), n. The state or 
quality of being passable, in any of the senses 
of that word. 
passably (pas'a-bli), adv. Tolerably; moder- 
ately. 
Other Towns are passably rich, and stored with Ship- 
ping ; but not one very poor. Howell, Letters, I. ii. 15. 
passacaglia (pas-a-kal'ya), . 1. An old 
dance of Italian or Spanish origin, resembling 
the chaconne. 2. Music for such a dance, or 
in its rhythm, which is triple and slow. A passa- 
caglia is regularly constructed upon a perpetually recur- 
ring theme, usually in the form of a ground-bass. It is a 
frequent component of the old suite, and a favorite form 
of organ-music. Compare chaconne. Also passacaglio. 
passade (pa-sad'), n. [Formerly also passado 
(after Sp.), passato (after It.); < F. passade = 
Sp. pasada = Pg. passada = It. passata, a pass 
or thrust in fencing, < ML. passata, a pass, pas- 
sage, < passare, pass: see pass, v.~] If. In /en- 
passage 
cing, a lunge forward with a sword, one foot 
being advanced at the same time. 
Come, sir, your passado. Shak., It. and J., iii. 1. 88. 
The best practised gallants of the time name it the pas- 
sado; a most desperate thrust, believe it. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, i. 4. 
2. In the manege, a turn or course of the horse 
backward or forward on the same ground. 
passadot (pa-sa'do), n. [A var. of passade, as 
if Sp.: see passade.] Same as passade. 
passage (pas'aj), n. [< ME. passage, < OF. pas- 
sage, F. passage = Sp. pasaje = Pg. passagem 
= It. passaggio, < ML. passaticum, right of pas- 
sage, also, after Rom.,passagium, passage, right 
of passage, toll for passage, a pass, way, road, 
canal, etc., < passare, pass: see puss, .] 1. 
A passing or moving from one place or state to 
another; movement, transit, or transference 
from point to point, place to place, state to 
state, hand to hand, etc. ; a moving or going by, 
over, along, or through: as, the passage of a ship 
or of a bird ; the passage of something through a 
tube or a sieve; the passage of the sunlight 
through the clouds. 
He mourns that day so soon has glided by : 
E'en like the passage of an angel's tear 
That falls through the clear ether silently. 
Keats, Sonnets, xiv. 
2. A journey in some conveyance, especially a 
ship; a voyage. 
God send you a good Passage to Holland. 
Howell, Letters, ii. 14. 
We had a very good Passage also about the Cape of Good 
Hope, where we had fair clear Weather. 
Dampier, Voyages, II. iii. 4. 
3. A way or course through or by which a per- 
son or thing may pass ; a path or way by which 
transit may be effected; means of entrance, 
exit, or transit; an avenue, channel, or path 
leadingfrom one place to another, such as a nar- 
row street or lane, an alley, a pass over a moun- 
tain or a ford over a river, a channel, a strait 
connecting two bodies of water, a ferry, etc.: 
as, the passages of Jordan (Judges xii. 6) ; the 
Gilolo passage in the Malay archipelago ; the 
air-passages of the body. 
The first Citee that these kynges stuffed was Nauntes 
in breteyne, that was towarde Cornewaile, for it was a pas- 
sage ther the Saxons repeired moste. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 176. 
The kyng had so stopped the passages that nether vyt- 
ayll nor succour could by any way be conueighed to them. 
Hall, Hen. IV., quoted in Wright's Bible Word-book, 
[p. 452. 
There are in Venice thirteen ferries or passages. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 210. 
From hence a passage broad, 
Smooth, easy, inoffensive, down to hell. 
Milton, P. L., x. 304. 
Specifically 4. (a) An avenue or alley lead- 
ing to the various divisions or apartments in a 
building; a gallery or corridor; a hall. 
Atthe West end of this glorious Councell hall . . . there 
is a passage into another most stately roome. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 257. 
Rich windows that exclude the light, 
And passages that lead to nothing. 
Gray, A Long Story. 
The servant led me through a passage into a room with 
a fire, where she left me alone. 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, v. 
(6) In some European cities, a section of a pub- 
lic street, or a short independent street, roofed 
in with glass, having shops on both sides, and 
usually or always closed to vehicles: as, the 
Passage du Havre in Paris. 5. Passage-money; 
fare; ferriage; toll; price paid for passing or 
for being carried between two points or places. 
This seven yere and more he hath used this waye, 
Yet was he never so curteyse a potter 
As one peny passage to paye. 
Playe of Robyn Hode (Child's Ballads, V. 426). 
The citizens of Hereford fined, in the second year of 
Henry III., in a hundred marks and two palfreys, to have 
the king's charter . . . that they might be quit through- 
out England of toll and lastage, of passage, pontage, and 
stallage, and of leve,.and danegeld, and gaywite, and all 
other customs and exactions. 
S. Dowell, Taxes in England, I. 26. 
6. Liberty or power of passing; access; entry 
or exit. 7t. Currency; reception. 
Goo, litle book, god sende the good passage; 
Chese wele thi way, be symple of manere. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 80. 
I would render this treatise intelligible to every rational 
man, however little versed in scholastic learning, among 
whom I expect it will have a fairer passage than among 
those deeply imbued with other principles. Sir K. Digby. 
8. That which passes or takes place, or has 
passed or taken place; incident; occurrence; 
happening ; episode ; event ; doing : matter ; 
affair; transaction. 
