| / English Dictionary |
PAST
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("past" is a kind of...):
tense (a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "past"):
preterit; preterite (a term formerly used to refer to the simple past tense)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The time that has elapsed
Example:
forget the past
Synonyms:
past; past times; yesteryear
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("past" is a kind of...):
time (the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "past"):
yore (time long past)
bygone; water under the bridge (past events to be put aside)
old (past times (especially in the phrase 'in days of old'))
history (the aggregate of past events)
time immemorial; time out of mind (the distant past beyond memory)
auld langsyne; good old days; langsyne; old times (past times remembered with nostalgia)
yesterday (the recent past)
Antonym:
future (the time yet to come)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret)
Example:
reporters dug into the candidate's past
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("past" is a kind of...):
period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)
Holonyms ("past" is a part of...):
life (the period between birth and the present time)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office
Example:
a retiring member of the board
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
outgoing (leaving a place or a position)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Earlier than the present time; no longer current
Example:
the past year
Classified under:
Similar:
ult; ultimo (in or of the month preceding the present one)
then (at a specific prior time)
prehistoric; prehistorical (belonging to or existing in times before recorded history)
other (recently past)
olden (relating to time long past)
late; recent (of the immediate past or just previous to the present time)
last (immediately past)
historic; historical (belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past)
former; late; previous ((used especially of persons) of the immediate past)
erstwhile; former; old; one-time; onetime; quondam; sometime (belonging to some prior time)
early; former; other (belonging to the distant past)
chivalric; knightly; medieval (characteristic of the time of chivalry and knighthood in the Middle Ages)
bygone; bypast; departed; foregone; gone (well in the past; former)
ancient (belonging to times long past especially of the historical period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire)
ago; agone (gone by; or in the past)
Also:
old (of long duration; not new)
outgoing (leaving a place or a position)
noncurrent (not current or belonging to the present time)
Attribute:
timing (the time when something happens)
Antonym:
future (yet to be or coming)
present (temporal sense; intermediate between past and future; now existing or happening or in consideration)
Derivation:
pastness (the quality of being past)
III. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
So as to pass a given point
Example:
every hour a train goes past
Synonyms:
by; past
Classified under:
Context examples:
He will believe it more and more, poor fellow, every day for a few days to come; and then it will be past.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
"Farewell, kind Mrs. Fairfax!" I whispered, as I glided past her door.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
A sound, a smell, a word can all flood our minds with memories of past experiences.
(Our brains may ripple before remembering, National Institutes of Health)
Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Have you had surgery in the past month?
(BPI - Surgery in Past Month, NCI Thesaurus)
But I too have been thinking over the past, and a question has suggested itself, whether there may not have been one person more my enemy even than that lady?
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Circle the one number that describes how, during the past week, pain has interfered with your walking ability.
(BPI - Pain Interfered with Walking Ability, NCI Thesaurus)
Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Circle the one number that describes how, during the past week, pain has interfered with your sleep.
(BPI - Pain Interfered with Sleep, NCI Thesaurus)
Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI Short Form) Circle the one number that describes how, during the past 24 hours, pain has interfered with your enjoyment of life.
(BPI Short Form - Pain Interfered with Enjoyment of Life, NCI Thesaurus)
Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI Short Form) Circle the one number that describes how, during the past 24 hours, pain has interfered with your general activity.
(BPI Short Form - Pain Interfered with General Activity, NCI Thesaurus)
Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI Short Form) Circle the one number that describes how, during the past 24 hours, pain has interfered with your walking ability.
(BPI Short Form - Pain Interfered with Walking Ability, NCI Thesaurus)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
