2 PHRASAL VERB If you pass over a topic in a conversation or speech, you do not talk about it. □ [V P n] He largely passed over the government's record. □ [be V -ed P ] They seem to think her crimes should be passed over in silence.
▸ pass up PHRASAL VERB If you pass up a chance or an opportunity, you do not take advantage of it. □ [V P n] The official urged the government not to pass up the opportunity that has now presented itself. □ [V n P ] 'I can't pass this up.' She waved the invitation.
pass|able /pɑː səb ə l, pæ s-/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If something is a passable effort or of passable quality, it is satisfactory or quite good. □ Stan puffed out his thin cheeks in a passable imitation of his dad. ● pass|ably /pɑː səbli, pæ s-/ ADV [usu ADV adj/adv, oft ADV after v] □ She has always been quick to pick things up, doing passably well in school.
2 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If a road is passable , it is not completely blocked, and people can still use it. □ The airport road is passable today for the first time in a week.
pas|sage ◆◇◇ /pæ s I dʒ/ (passages )
1 N‑COUNT A passage is a long narrow space with walls or fences on both sides, which connects one place or room with another. □ Harry stepped into the passage and closed the door behind him.
2 N‑COUNT A passage in a book, speech, or piece of music is a section of it that you are considering separately from the rest. □ [+ from ] He reads a passage from Milton. □ …the passage in which Blake spoke of the world of imagination.
3 N‑COUNT A passage is a long narrow hole or tube in your body, which air or liquid can pass along. □ …blocked nasal passages.
4 N‑COUNT A passage through a crowd of people or things is an empty space that allows you to move through them. □ [+ through ] He cleared a passage for himself through the crammed streets.
5 N‑UNCOUNT [usu with poss] The passage of someone or something is their movement from one place to another. □ [+ of ] Germany had not requested Franco's consent for the passage of troops through Spain.
6 N‑UNCOUNT [oft with poss] The passage of someone or something is their progress from one situation or one stage in their development to another. □ [+ from/to ] …the passage from school to college.
7 N‑SING The passage of a period of time is its passing. □ [+ of ] …an asset that increases in value with the passage of time.
8 N‑COUNT A passage is a journey by ship. □ [+ from ] We'd arrived the day before after a 10-hour passage from Swansea.
9 N‑UNCOUNT If you are granted passage through a country or area of land, you are given permission to go through it. □ [+ to/from ] He would be given safe passage to and from the capital. SYNONYMS passage NOUN 1
corridor: They walked down the corridor.
hallway: The living room was at the end of a long hallway.
passageway: There's an underground passageway that connects the five buildings.
passage|way /pæ s I dʒwe I / (passageways ) N‑COUNT A passageway is a long narrow space with walls or fences on both sides, which connects one place or room with another. □ Outside, in the passageway, I could hear people moving about.
pass|book /pɑː sbʊk, pæ s-/ (passbooks ) N‑COUNT A passbook is a small book recording the amount of money you pay in or take out of a savings account at a bank or building society. [BRIT ]
pas|sé /pæse I / ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If someone describes something as passé , they think that it is no longer fashionable or that it is no longer effective. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ Punk is passé.
pas|sen|ger ◆◇◇ /pæ s I ndʒə r / (passengers )
1 N‑COUNT A passenger in a vehicle such as a bus, boat, or plane is a person who is travelling in it, but who is not driving it or working on it. □ [+ in ] Mr Fullemann was a passenger in the car when it crashed. □ …a flight from Milan with more than forty passengers on board.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Passenger is used to describe something that is designed for passengers, rather than for drivers or goods. □ I sat in the passenger seat. □ …a passenger train. SYNONYMS passenger NOUN 1
traveller: Many air travellers suffer puffy ankles and feet during long flights.
commuter: The number of commuters to London has dropped by 100,000.
pa sser-by (passers-by ) also passerby N‑COUNT A passer-by is a person who is walking past someone or something. □ A passer-by described what he saw moments after the car bomb had exploded.
pas|sim /pæ s I m/ ADV In indexes and notes, passim indicates that a particular name or subject occurs frequently throughout a particular piece of writing or section of a book. □ …The Theories of their Relation (London, 1873), p. 8 and passim.
pass|ing /pɑː s I ŋ, pæ s-/
1 ADJ [ADJ n] A passing fashion, activity, or feeling lasts for only a short period of time and is not worth taking very seriously. □ Hamnett does not believe environmental concern is a passing fad.
2 N‑SING [with poss] The passing of something such as a time or system is the fact of its coming to an end. □ It was an historic day, yet its passing was not marked by the slightest excitement.