tick past

verb

To continue over time.

“The years just continue to tick past.”

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Meanings

verbtick past (third-person singular simple present ticks past, present participle ticking past, simple past and past participle ticked past)

present singular third person ticks past · participle present ticking past · participle past ticked past · past ticked past

  1. intransitivetransitivetime or time-keeping devicesTo continue over time.

    The years just continue to tick past.

    2 more examples

    The bad election results kept coming in, ticking past me one by one on the bottom of the television screen.

    Me, I ain't going anywhere / Just sit and watch the sun come up, I like it here / Oh yeah, I watch the people go ticking past

    2008, Nick Cave, “Albert Goes West”, in Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
tick by
Cite this entry
APA

tick past. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tick%20past

MLA

“tick past.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tick%20past. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tick past,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tick%20past.

Source: tick past on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.