past
the time that has elapsed
How often you will meet it
Rank 472 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 43,440 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.021% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
noun
- the time that has elapsed also: past times, yesteryear forget the past
- a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret) reporters dug into the candidate's past
- a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past also: past tense
adjective
- earlier than the present time; no longer current time pasthis youth is past
- of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office also: preceding, retiring a retiring member of the board
adverb
- so as to pass a given point also: by every hour a train goes past
past in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Several instances of this spirit have occurred in the year past.
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics · Ida B. Wells-Barnett · Chapter 1
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It flickered in the wind that slipped past the curtain of the open window.
The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1
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He was past middle life and plain, but was of good height and had an air.
Emily Fox-Seton · Frances Hodgson Burnett · Chapter 1
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The sunbeams of summer were long past, and snowflakes had fallen thickly on the banks of Red River.
Snowflakes and Sunbeams · R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne · Chapter 1
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This accomplished, she had only to wait, and sit in tearless anguish at the window, listening intently whenever a horseman rode past.
A Knight of the White Cross · G. A. (George Alfred) Henty · Chapter 1