pass off
verb
passed off; passing off; passes off
1
: to make public or offer for sale with intent to deceive
2
: to give a false identity or character to
Examples of pass off in a Sentence
the con man tried to pass off a piece of blue glass as a sapphire
Recent Examples on the Web
Many pass off the origin story as local lore, but in 1989, it was reinforced when Rau, who had grown into an adult, wrote to the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History explaining his role in the eventual lizard population boom.
—
Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 7 Apr. 2024
Far too often, I’m confronted with crumbling mounds of pseudo flour passed off as a gluten-free snack.
—Matti Gellman, Kansas City Star, 19 Jan. 2024
After their set, Lavigne, 39, passed off the group's trophy to Armstrong, who appeared overjoyed.
—Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
For Amos, passing off his company to someone outside of the family represents an inevitable but wrenching loss.
—Maria Aspan, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024
So then that gets passed off to a doctor who comes up with a plan for you.
—Isabella Cueto, STAT, 8 Mar. 2024
Gaya said that the government needs to better enforce the proper labeling of vanilla products, so that artificial vanilla is not passed off as natural.
—Leila Miller, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2024
The next play, Grizzlies guard David Roddy nearly fumbled the ball in the half court but got a pass off to Jacob Gilyard in the corner, who’d lost his defender Jonathan Kuminga for a second long enough to get a corner 3-pointer up and in.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2024
New York health authorities are looking into accusations that a baker passed off regular doughnuts from Dunkin’ as her own homemade vegan and gluten-free pastries.
—Emily Heil, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024
Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 7 Apr. 2024
Far too often, I’m confronted with crumbling mounds of pseudo flour passed off as a gluten-free snack.
—Matti Gellman, Kansas City Star, 19 Jan. 2024
After their set, Lavigne, 39, passed off the group's trophy to Armstrong, who appeared overjoyed.
—Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
For Amos, passing off his company to someone outside of the family represents an inevitable but wrenching loss.
—Maria Aspan, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024
So then that gets passed off to a doctor who comes up with a plan for you.
—Isabella Cueto, STAT, 8 Mar. 2024
Gaya said that the government needs to better enforce the proper labeling of vanilla products, so that artificial vanilla is not passed off as natural.
—Leila Miller, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2024
The next play, Grizzlies guard David Roddy nearly fumbled the ball in the half court but got a pass off to Jacob Gilyard in the corner, who’d lost his defender Jonathan Kuminga for a second long enough to get a corner 3-pointer up and in.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2024
New York health authorities are looking into accusations that a baker passed off regular doughnuts from Dunkin’ as her own homemade vegan and gluten-free pastries.
—Emily Heil, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pass off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pass off
Cite this Entry
“Pass off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pass%20off. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
pass off
transitive verb1
: to make public or offer for sale (goods or services) with intent to deceive : palm off
passing his product off as that of the plaintiff's—W. L. Prosser and W. P. Keeton
see also unfair competition
W. L. Prosser and W. P. Keeton2
: to give a false identity or character to
they created the documents on the day of the trial and passed them off as being made earlier
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