past

1 of 4

adjective

1
a
: ago
12 years past
started working on this project 10 years past
b
: just gone or elapsed
for the past few months
I spoke with him this past weekend.
2
: having existed or taken place in a period before the present : bygone
In past winters, we have had much more snow.
3
: of, relating to, or constituting a verb tense that is expressive of elapsed time and that in English is usually formed by internal vowel change (as in sang) or by the addition of a suffix (as in laughed)
4
: having served as a specified officer in an organization
past president
past champions

past

2 of 4

preposition

1
a
: beyond the age for or of
past playing with dolls
b
: after
half past two
2
a
: at the farther side of : beyond
b
: in a course or direction going close to and then beyond
drove past the house
3
obsolete : more than
4
: beyond the capacity, range, or sphere of
past belief

past

3 of 4

noun

1
a
: time gone by
b
: something that happened or was done in the past
regret the past
2
a
: the past tense of a language
b
: a verb form in the past tense
3
: a past life, history, or course of action
especially : one that is kept secret
pastless adjective

past

4 of 4

adverb

: so as to reach and go beyond a point near at hand
drove past

Examples of past in a Sentence

Adjective She was hired based on her past experience in sales. a past editor of the newspaper Preposition The office is two blocks past the intersection. Turn left just past the stairs. We drove past the house. I must have walked right past her. He looked past me to the next customer. Noun Past, present, and future are all linked together. The past of “walk” is “walked.” Adverb Several weeks went past before we heard from her.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Like Clay, many men carry the weight of their past experiences into their relationships, impacting their ability to connect deeply and authentically with their partners. Essence, 16 Mar. 2024 So far, Curiosity has found evidence in several locations of past liquid water, minerals that may provide chemical energy, and intriguingly, a variety of organic carbon molecules. Amy J. Williams, Discover Magazine, 16 Mar. 2024 The city is a major site in the U.S. for Irish heritage and culture thanks to the large number of Irish immigrants who moved to the city in centuries past, and St. Patrick's Day has become a way to celebrate one of the things that makes Boston unique. Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2024 Online observers have studied this photo and allege that it, too, was manipulated somehow, drawing comparisons to a past photo of the princess and saying that her image had been Photoshopped into that picture. Sydney Lake, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024 These assessment tools consider various factors such as age, race or ethnicity, history of past breast biopsies, and familial breast cancer history. Kristina Behr, Parents, 15 Mar. 2024 Unlike past bills, the Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act does not require the FBI to get a warrant merely to search the 702 database for US communications. Dell Cameron, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2024 How will Black Mirror season 7 connect to past seasons? Kelsie Gibson, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024 Interrupting the process are memories of Bird's past relationships — with his mother, his wives, his friends. The Indianapolis Star, 14 Mar. 2024
Preposition
Sarah Dickerson, 25, of Oakley, was eating dinner outside at Beeline around 7:20 p.m. when people started running past the restaurant, first in one direction and then both directions. Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 17 Mar. 2024 This year, the 26.2-mile course took more than 25,000 runners past iconic spots including Dodger Stadium, City Hall, Disney Concert Hall and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Check out photos from L.A. Times staffers along the route. Myung J. Chun, Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2024 The splashy move certainly helped Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker, which saw its market cap surge past $1 trillion for the first time. Steve Mollman, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2024 The kings of counterintuitive basketball struck again, playing rope-a-dope for the opening 13 minutes of the Mountain West semifinals Friday night at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center before roaring past top-seeded and 18th-ranked Utah State 86-70 in another vintage March performance. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2024 While players from the bench streamed past her toward the scrum, Reese turned and limped in the other direction. Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2024 Even the most versed of artists can sit paralyzed in fear, unable to move past the expectations in their heads. Jenna Wang, Peoplemag, 14 Mar. 2024 The highly controversial backdrop program, initially pitched as costing little or nothing, pays out bonuses to county workers who agree to work past their retirement date. Daniel Bice, Journal Sentinel, 13 Mar. 2024 The single-engine plane crashed off the eastbound lanes of Nashville’s Interstate 40 just past the Charlotte Pk exit, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shared in updates posted on X (formerly Twitter). Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 5 Mar. 2024
Noun
Allied did not return calls and emails regarding Zani’s past with DPD. Andrea May Sahouri, Detroit Free Press, 16 Mar. 2024 The hotel's interior decor, from the lobby to the hallways, are also packed with nods to the country's past, and its rooftop boasts a 360-degree view of the city. Christine Burroni, Travel + Leisure, 15 Mar. 2024 Talking about the hard stuff in your family's past can also cultivate your child's compassion by providing context for their relatives' life choices and circumstances. Jenna Wirth, Parents, 15 Mar. 2024 Putin’s long past, and likely future, in power significantly helps him in foreign affairs. Adam Taylor, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024 Supported only by a keyboardist called Colin Chambers, Bey summoned ghosts of soul-jazz past, often evoking Nina Simone; when her accompanist switched to the electric funk of a Fender Rhodes tone, her similarities to Roberta Flack were accentuated. Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 13 Mar. 2024 The musician’s fate, when the filmmakers finally reveal it, is imbued with slow-rolling horror and a hideous sense of irony — a warning to the present as well as a glimpse of a shameful past. Ty Burr, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 The fit and finish—already a point of pride for the Michigan builder—was at another level, while the versatile layout was in line with Tiara’s innovative past. Kevin Koenig, Robb Report, 5 Mar. 2024 Desert environments are typically well-preserved in the geological record, and dunes leave behind clues about their distant past in layers of compressed sandstone. Mindy Weisberger, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024
Adverb
On March 1st, crowds lined a street in Moscow as the hearse carrying Navalny’s body drove past. Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2024 And, in a departure from years past, international migration jumped to nearly 10,800. Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Mar. 2024 For that first post-Covid season, around 6,000 people applied for the jobs—more than twice the number of applicants than in years past. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2024 In years past, Pizzarelli also sometimes played with his father, the musician Bucky Pizzarelli, who died in 2020. Reggie Nadelson, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024 The procession stretched for hundreds of meters, with mourners in black walking side by side with men in uniform, as well as people who joined in as the procession went past to show their support. Ivana Kottasová, CNN, 1 Mar. 2024 With supply increasing, buyers stand to benefit from a little more time in the process than in years past, when countless buyers were waiving inspections and bidding well over asking prices just to be in the running. Emily Pandise, NBC News, 25 Feb. 2024 In years past, the facility replicated what U.S. forces could expect to face in Iraq and Afghanistan. Alex Horton, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2024 In years past, the NCAA March Madness festival has seen performances from Rihanna, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, Zac Brown Band, Lady A, Weezer, Bruce Springsteen, Tim McGraw, The Killers, LL Cool J, Kendrick Lamar, Fall Out Boy, Twenty-One Pilots, Pitbull and more. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'past.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective, Preposition, Noun, and Adverb

Middle English, from past participle of passen to pass

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Preposition

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

1799, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of past was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near past

Cite this Entry

“Past.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

past

1 of 4 adjective
1
a
: ago
10 years past
b
: just gone by
for the past few months
2
: having existed or taken place in a period before the present
past customs
3
: of, relating to, or being a verb tense that in English is usually formed by internal vowel change (as in sang) or by the addition of a suffix (as in laughed) and that expresses time gone by
4
: no longer serving
a past president

past

2 of 4 preposition
1
: beyond entry 2 sense 1
past 50 years old
half past ten
2
: in a course by and then beyond
the road goes past the house

past

3 of 4 noun
1
: a former time or event
2
b
: a verb form in the past tense
3
: a past life or history
especially : a past life that is secret or questionable

past

4 of 4 adverb
: so as to pass by
a deer ran past

More from Merriam-Webster on past

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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