the past
noun
1
: an earlier time : the time before the present
happy memories of the past
In the past, there was a company luncheon every month.
2
grammar
: a verb tense that is used to refer to the past : the past tense
The past of "walk" is "walked."
Examples of the past in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The accepted wisdom in yacht design has been that the fastest ocean passages can only be achieved by multihull craft, such as the current crop of Ultim trimarans, which have three hulls in parallel and have set the big records of the past decade.
—
Andrew Rice, New York Times, 7 May 2026
In northern Virginia’s Loudoun County, the buzzing-windowless-behemoth capital of the world, every dollar in services provided to data centers returns twenty-six dollars in revenue, and that has allowed the county to lower its real-property taxes every year for the past decade.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 7 May 2026
And social media has emerged as a key platform for public advocacy over the past few years, raising awareness around food safety and mislabeling in India.
—Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 7 May 2026
Those are figures that would scare off many Spanish buyers but are within the reach of foreign fortunes, which have taken on growing importance in the district over the past decade.
—Pau Mosquera, CNN Money, 6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for the past
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Andrew Rice, New York Times, 7 May 2026
In northern Virginia’s Loudoun County, the buzzing-windowless-behemoth capital of the world, every dollar in services provided to data centers returns twenty-six dollars in revenue, and that has allowed the county to lower its real-property taxes every year for the past decade.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 7 May 2026
And social media has emerged as a key platform for public advocacy over the past few years, raising awareness around food safety and mislabeling in India.
—Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 7 May 2026
Those are figures that would scare off many Spanish buyers but are within the reach of foreign fortunes, which have taken on growing importance in the district over the past decade.
—Pau Mosquera, CNN Money, 6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for the past
Cite this Entry
“The past.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20past. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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