pass up

verb

passed up; passing up; passes up

transitive verb

: to let go by without accepting or taking advantage of

pass up a chance for promotion

also : decline, reject

Synonyms

• balk (at)
• decline
• deselect
• disapprove
• negative
• nix
• pass
• refuse
• reject
• reprobate
• repudiate
• spurn
• throw out
• throw over
• turn down

Examples of pass up in a Sentence

I must pass up the offer to be chairman of this event.

Recent Examples on the Web

With Mother’s Day approaching, the tale of these three cofounder moms seemed too good to pass up. —Byallie Garfinkle, Fortune, 10 May 2024

Bass will rarely pass up this presentation, even when looking for bream. —Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 9 May 2024

With Mother's Day and graduation season on the horizon, Amazon is offering a discount on Apple AirPods that should not be passed up. —Casey Delbasso, ABC News, 8 May 2024

Splashy color combinations and vibrant designs don’t have to be passed up; there are plenty of options on the market that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. —Paris Wilson, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 May 2024

Basically, smaller fish eat the algae, and the toxin gets passed up the food chain right up to people who eat larger predator fish. —David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 3 May 2024

After Game 1 on Sunday, multiple Heat players spoke about passing up on too many open threes. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2024

Tata Consultancy Services, the main arm of Indian industrial giant Tata, is reportedly clamping down on office-shy workers by cutting their bonuses and hovering the threat of being passed up for promotions. —Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 22 Apr. 2024

But in this scenario, the explosive Nabers is too good to pass up as a weapon for Levis and piece of Brian Callahan’s new offense. —Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above