past has definitions from the field of grammar
1
[ noun ] the time that has elapsed

Examples

"forget the past"

Used in print

(The Atlanta Constitution...)

A veteran Jackson_County legislator will ask the Georgia_House Monday to back federal aid to education , something it has consistently opposed in the past .

(The New York Times,...)

In the past the club depended largely on Van_Brocklin 's aerials .

(The Christian Science Monitor,...)

One of the script 's big problems was how to blend pictures and music of the past with live performances by musicians of today .

(Schubert Ogden, Christ Without Myth....)

Although the theological forms of the past continue to exist in a way they do not in a more secularized situation , the striking thing is the rapidity with which they are being reduced to a marginal existence .

(Nathan Rapport, ""I've Been Here before!"...)

When consciousness deserts the sleeping body and the wakeful world , it continues in the myriad progressions of the ever-present past and future , in a life as vibrant and real as the one left when the body tired and required sleep .

2
[ adjective ] earlier than the present time; no longer current

Examples

"time past" "his youth is past" "this past Thursday" "the past year"

Used in print

(The New York Times,...)

Arnold_Palmer has been a blazing figure in golf over the past twelve months .

(Nathan Rapport, ""I've Been Here before!"...)

There is nothing to suggest that the brain can alter past impressions to fit into an original , realistic and unbroken continuity like we experience in dreams .

It is not through space nor time that the time_machine most approved by science_fiction must travel for a visit to the permanent prehistoric past , or the ever existent past fantasy future .

It is not through space nor time that the time_machine most approved by science_fiction must travel for a visit to the permanent prehistoric past , or the ever existent past fantasy future .

(Handbook of Federal Aids to Communities. U.S. Dep...)

The record of past earnings and prospects for the future must indicate it has the ability to repay the loan out of current and anticipated income .

3
[ adverb ] so as to pass a given point

Synonyms

by

Examples

"every hour a train goes past"

Used in print

(The Sun, [Baltimore],...)

Then Kerr , a graduate_student from Illinois , moved past him on a straightaway and held_off Mills 's challenge on the final turn .

(Louis Zara, Dark Rider....)

Sometimes they went south and rolled past the tollhouse - `` Afternoon , Reverend '' !

He meandered down Pike_Street , past the First_National_Bank with its green window_shades .

(E. Lucas Myers, "The Vindication of Dr. Nestor,"...)

The doctor stood about , waiting for Alex to dress , with a show of impatience , and soon they were moving , as quietly as could be , through the still dark hallways , past the bedroom of the patronne , and so into the street .

4
[ noun ] a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret)

Examples

"reporters dug into the candidate's past"

Used in print

(Nathan Rapport, ""I've Been Here before!"...)

I can n't tell when , but I'm positive I witnessed this same scene of this particular gathering at some time in the past '' !

If Depew had told any academic psychologist that he had a weird feeling of having lived through that identical convention session at some time in the past , he would have been informed that he was a victim of deja_vu .

(Robert L. Duncan, The Voice of Strangers....)

Rector had never been able to find_out much about Hino 's past .

Related terms

time_period life

5
[ adjective ] of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office

Synonyms

retiring preceding

Examples

"a retiring member of the board"

Used in print

("Editorials"...)

His proposal is opposed to that of Richard_Nixon , Governor_Rockefeller , past chairmen Strauss and McCone of the Atomic_Energy_Commission , Dr._Edward_Teller and those others now enjoying their hour of triumph in the exacerbation of the cold_war .

(Organic Gardening and Farming,...)

This delightful tropical fruit has become well-known in the past thirty years because modern transportation methods have made it possible to ship avocado anywhere in the United_States .

(John Michael Ray, "Rhode Island's Reactions...)

The state had elected Republican candidates in the past two years .

Related terms

outgoing

6
[ noun ] (grammar) a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past

Synonyms

past_tense

Used in print

(Philip Jos‚ Farmer, The Lovers....)

Instead of inflecting a verb or using an unattached particle to indicate the past or future , Siddo used an entirely different word .

Related terms

tense preterit

7
[ pronoun ] preposition, to indicate movement through a point and continuing

Synonyms

by beyond

Examples

"They drove by my house." "It is beyond the bounds of good sense." "He looked past me."

8
[ pronoun ] preposition

Synonyms

beyond

9
[ adjective ] (grammar) a verb tense or other construction referring to events or states that existed at some previous time

Examples

"past participle"

Related terms

grammar

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