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checkered past

noun
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Definition of checkered past

: a past history of having done bad things or been in trouble
  • The senator has a checkered past.

Word by Word Definitions

checkered play

  1. : marked by alternation or contrast of fortune

See the full definition of checkered
past play

  1. : ago

  2. : just gone or elapsed

  3. : having existed or taken place in a period before the present : bygone

  1. : beyond the age for or of

  2. : after

  3. : at the farther side of : beyond

  1. : time gone by

  2. : something that happened or was done in the past

  3. : the past tense of a language

  1. : so as to reach and go beyond a point near at hand

See the full definition of past

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