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
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
: 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
Time, 4 June 2025
The Federal Reserve is lifting the $1.95 trillion asset cap imposed on Club name Wells Fargo since February 2018 for past misdeeds, including its cross-selling scandal of the 2010s.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 4 June 2025
Ron Schmelzer, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
Both of our children were a week past their due dates...so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn't work - there was only one thing left to do!
—Jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2025
So much of this book is about this complicated and rather dangerous nostalgia for a past and a community that’s gone forever.
—Dwyer Murphy
june 6, Literary Hub, 6 June 2025
Shubham Yewale, PC Magazine, 6 June 2025
Spectators were already out capturing the stunning aurora display when a blazing meteor sped past.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for past
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Adjective
As major Cold War events like the Cuban Missile Crisis, the space race, and the Vietnam War fueled American anxieties and obsessions about Soviet power, the spirit found a way to slip past political divisions and into American homes—despite its connections with the Soviet enemy.
—Time, 4 June 2025
The Federal Reserve is lifting the $1.95 trillion asset cap imposed on Club name Wells Fargo since February 2018 for past misdeeds, including its cross-selling scandal of the 2010s.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 4 June 2025
Preposition
Other Agencies Are Steadily Making Progress with AI Federal departments have been slow to move past AI experimentation.
—Ron Schmelzer, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
Both of our children were a week past their due dates...so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn't work - there was only one thing left to do!
—Jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
Noun
Playwrights addressed the polis not by dramatizing current events but by recasting tales from the mythological and historic past to sharpen critical thinking on contemporary concerns.
—Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2025
So much of this book is about this complicated and rather dangerous nostalgia for a past and a community that’s gone forever.
—Dwyer Murphy
june 6, Literary Hub, 6 June 2025
Adverb
These Walmart deals are way too good to scroll past.
—Shubham Yewale, PC Magazine, 6 June 2025
Spectators were already out capturing the stunning aurora display when a blazing meteor sped past.
—Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for past
Cite this Entry
“Past.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/past. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
past
1 of 4 adjective1
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 preposition1
: 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 noun1
: a former time or event
2
a
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
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