pass on

present singular third person passes on · participle present passing on · participle past passed on · past passed on

1. intransitiveTo go forward.

   Sir Humphrey: There comes a time when one has to accept what fate has in store. When one passes on (pun). / Jim Hacker: (Shocked) Passes on?

   1980 December 17, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “Party Games (Yes Minister)”, in Yes Minister, spoken by Humphrey Appleby and Jim Hacker (Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington)

   Synonyms: proceed

2. transitiveTo convey or communicate.

   Can you pass on the information next time you see him?

   1 more example

   Does he know what I do? / And you'll pass this on, won't you? / And if I ask him once what would he say? / Is he willing? / Can he play?

   2003, “Pass This On”, in Deep Cuts, performed by The Knife

3. transitiveTo transfer (something) to someone, especially by handing or bequeathing it to the next person in a series.
4. transitiveTo skip or decline.

   I'll pass on dessert, thanks.

5. euphemisticidiomaticintransitiveTo die.

   His uncle passed on last year.

   2 more examples

   A very fine woman, Martha’s mother. She passed on—let’s see—sixteen months ago, next June. No, fifteen months ago. […] She was a very fine old lady, and I was glad to do what I could.

   1953, Jim Thompson, “Allen Talbert”, in The Criminal, Berkeley, Calif.: Black Lizard Books, published 1986, →ISBN, page 5

   Sir Humphrey: There comes a time when one has to accept what fate has in store. When one passes on (pun). / Jim Hacker: (Shocked) Passes on?

   1980 December 17, Antony Jay, Jonathan Lynn, “Party Games (Yes Minister)”, in Yes Minister, spoken by Humphrey Appleby and Jim Hacker (Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington)

   Synonyms: assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus, be with the Lord