past

plural pasts

1. The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.

   1830, Daniel Webster, a speech The past, at least, is secure.

   4 more examples

   a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past

   The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed.

   1860, Richard Chenevix Trench, On the English Language, Past and Present

   Every time the little gate creaks--I'm in the shed with the tanks at the end of the garden--I wonder from which of my pasts the person is arriving, seeking me out even here: maybe it is only the past of yesterday and of this same suburb, the squat Arab garbage collector who in October begins his rounds for tips, house by house, with a Happy New Year card, because he says that his colleagues keep all the December tips for themselves and he never gets a penny; but it could also be the more distant pasts pursuing old Ruedi, finding the little gate in the Impasse: smugglers from Valais, mercenaries from Katanga, croupiers from the Veradero casino and the days of Fulgencio Batista.

   1979, Italo Calvino, If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

   The Mesozoic landscape of southeastern Utah can tell us much about the past, and it's one of the most intriguing and beautiful landscapes on Earth.

   2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition

   Synonyms: foretime, yestertide, days of yore, foreday, foretide, foretime, old days, yestertide

2. grammarThe past tense.

comparative more past · superlative most past

1. Having already happened; in the past; finished.First known use 14th c.

   past glories

   1 more example

   The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   Synonyms: bygone, foregone

2. Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.First known use 15th c.

   That had been, what, three years past?

   1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 538

   1 more example

   Some four decades past, as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A. Poucher [...].

   2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 20

3. Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous. foregone, #First known use 15th c.

   during the past year

   1 more example

   Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.

   2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: preceding, used-to-be, antecedent, anterior, earlier, erstwhile, ex, foregone

4. grammarOf a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.First known use 18th c.

   past tense

comparative more past · superlative most past

1. In a direction that passes.

   I watched him walk past.

   Synonyms: by

1. Beyond in place or quantity.

   count past twenty

   1 more example

   the room past mine

2. timeAny number of minutes after the last hour.

   What's the time? — It's now quarter past twelve midday (or 12:15 pm). — O.K., we'll stop at half (past) twelve.

   1 more example

   But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.

   2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport

   Antonyms: to

3. No longer capable of.

   I'm past caring what he thinks of me.

4. Having recovered or moved on from (a traumatic experience, etc.).
5. Passing by, especially without stopping or being delayed.

   Ignore them, we'll play past them.

   1 more example

   Please don't drive past the fruit stand, I want to stop there.

1. obsoleteparticiplepastsimple past and past participle of pass

   Great Tuscane dames, as she their towns past by, / Wisht her their daughter-in-law, but frustrately.

   1632, John Vicars, The XII Aeneids of Virgil