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in the past


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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
past /pæst/USA pronunciation   adj. 
  1. gone by in time:The bad times are all past now.
  2. of or having occurred during a previous time;
    bygone:[before a noun]past glories.
  3. gone by just before the present time:[before a noun]during the past year.
  4. ago:[after a noun]six days past.
  5. having once been;
    having formerly served as:[before a noun]three past presidents of the club.
  6. Grammar of or relating to a verb tense or form referring to events or states in times gone by:[before a noun]the irregular past tense of some English verbs, like go and is.

n. 
  1. time gone by:[uncountable* the + ~]far back in the distant past.
  2. the history of a person, nation, etc.:[uncountable]our country's glorious past.
  3. what happened at some earlier time:[uncountable* the + ~]Try to learn from the past.
  4. an earlier period of a person's life, career, etc.:[countable]He's got a very interesting past; read this report from the police.
  5. Grammar[uncountable* the + ~] the past tense.

adv. 
  1. so as to pass by or beyond;
    by:The troops marched past.

prep. 
  1. beyond in time;
    later than;
    after:It's already past noon.
  2. beyond in space or position;
    farther on than:Go to the house just past the church.
  3. beyond in amount, number, etc.;
    over:past the maximum age.
  4. beyond the reach, influence, or power of:That patient is past hope of recovery.

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
re•past /rɪˈpæst/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. food and drink for a meal;
    a meal.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
past  (past, päst),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. gone by or elapsed in time:It was a bad time, but it's all past now.
  2. of, having existed in, or having occurred during a time previous to the present;
    bygone:the past glories of the Incas.
  3. gone by just before the present time;
    just passed:during the past year.
  4. ago:six days past.
  5. having formerly been or served as;
    previous;
    earlier:three past presidents of the club.
  6. Grammardesignating a tense, or other verb formation or construction, that refers to events or states in time gone by.

n. 
  1. the time gone by:He could remember events far back in the past.
  2. the history of a person, nation, etc.:our country's glorious past.
  3. what has existed or has happened at some earlier time:Try to forget the past, now that your troubles are over.
  4. the events, phenomena, conditions, etc., that characterized an earlier historical period:That hat is something out of the past.
  5. an earlier period of a person's life, career, etc., that is thought to be of a shameful or embarrassing nature:When he left prison, he put his past behind him.
  6. Grammar
    • the past tense, as he ate, he smoked.
    • another verb formation or construction with past meaning.
    • a form in the past tense.

adv. 
  1. so as to pass by or beyond;
    by:The troops marched past.

prep. 
  1. beyond in time;
    later than;
    after:past noon; half past six.
  2. beyond in space or position;
    farther on than:the house just past the church.
  3. in a direction so as to pass by or go beyond:We went past the house by mistake.
  4. beyond in amount, number, etc.:past the maximum age for enlisting in the army.
  5. beyond the reach, scope, influence, or power of:He is past hope of recovery.
  • 1250–1300; Middle English; variant spelling, spelled of passed, past participle of pass

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
re•past  (n. ri past′, -päst′, rē′past, -päst;v. ri past′, -päst′),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. a quantity of food taken or provided for one occasion of eating:to eat a light repast.
  2. a meal:the evening repast.
  3. the time during which a meal is eaten;
    mealtime.
  4. [Archaic.]the taking of food, as at a meal.
  5. [Obs.]food.

v.i. 
  1. to eat or feast (often fol. by on or upon).
  • Late Latin repāscere to feed regularly, equivalent. to Latin re- re- + pāscere to feed (compare pasture)
  • Latin pāstus fodder) of repaistre to eat a meal
  • Old French, derivative (Compare past 
  • Middle English (noun, nominal) 1300–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
past / pɑːst/
  1. completed, finished, and no longer in existence: past happiness
  2. denoting or belonging to all or a segment of the time that has elapsed at the present moment: the past history of the world
  3. denoting a specific unit of time that immediately precedes the present one: the past month
  4. (prenominal) denoting a person who has held and relinquished an office or position; former: a past president
  5. denoting any of various tenses of verbs that are used in describing actions, events, or states that have been begun or completed at the time of utterance
    Compare aorist, imperfect4, perfect8
  1. the past ⇒ the period of time or a segment of it that has elapsed: forget the past
  2. the history, experience, or background of a nation, person, etc: a soldier with a distinguished past
  3. an earlier period of someone's life, esp one that contains events kept secret or regarded as disreputable
  4. a past tense
  5. a verb in a past tense
  1. at a specified or unspecified time before the present; ago: three years past
  2. on or onwards: I greeted him but he just walked past
  1. beyond in time: it's past midnight
  2. beyond in place or position: the library is past the church
  3. moving beyond; in a direction that passes: she walked past me
  4. beyond or above the reach, limit, or scope of: their foolishness is past comprehension
  5. beyond or above in number or amount: to count past ten
  6. past it ⇒ unable to perform the tasks one could do when one was younger
  7. not put it past someone ⇒ to consider someone capable of (the action specified)
Etymology: 14th Century: from passed, past participle of passUSAGE
The past participle of pass is sometimes wrongly spelt past: the time for recriminations has passed (not past)
'in the past' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
age - ago - back catalogue - behind - bethink - cast - catastrophism - day - done - forepassed - formerly - future - halo effect - historical - history - imperfect - manyfold - oldie - once - one - one-time - past - past progressive - regret - retroactive - skeleton - split infinitive - still - study - time - uniformitarianism - use - used to - wind - would - yore

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