4 ADJ You use past to talk about a period of time that has just finished. For example, if you talk about the past five years , you mean the period of five years that has just finished. □ Most shops have remained closed for the past three days.
5 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If a situation is past , it has ended and no longer exists. [LITERARY ] □ Many economists believe the worst of the economic downturn is past. □ …images from years long past.
6 ADJ [ADJ n] In grammar, the past tenses of a verb are the ones used to talk about things that happened at some time before the present. The simple past tense uses the past form of a verb, which for regular verbs ends in '-ed', as in 'They walked back to the car'.
7 → see also past perfect
8 PREP You use past when you are stating a time which is thirty minutes or less after a particular hour. For example, if it is twenty past six, it is twenty minutes after six o'clock. □ It's ten past eleven. □ I arrived at half past ten. ● ADV Past is also an adverb. □ I have my lunch at half past.
9 PREP If it is past a particular time, it is later than that time. □ It was past midnight. □ It's past your bedtime.
10 PREP If you go past someone or something, you go near them and keep moving, so that they are then behind you. □ I dashed past him and out of the door. □ A steady procession of people filed past the coffin. ● ADV Past is also an adverb. □ An ambulance drove past.
11 PREP If you look or point past a person or thing, you look or point at something behind them. □ She stared past Christine at the bed.
12 PREP If something is past a place, it is on the other side of it. □ Go north on I-15 to the exit just past Barstow.
13 PREP If someone or something is past a particular point or stage, they are no longer at that point or stage. □ He was well past retirement age.
14 PREP If you are past doing something, you are no longer able to do it. For example, if you are past caring , you do not care about something any more because so many bad things have happened to you. □ She was past caring about anything by then and just wanted the pain to end. □ Often by the time they do accept the truth they are past being able to put words to feelings. ● PHRASE If you say that someone or something is past it , they are no longer able to do what they used to do. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ We could do with a new car. The one we've got is a bit past it.
15 PHRASE If you say that you would not put it past someone to do something bad, you mean that you would not be surprised if they did it because you think their character is bad. □ You know what she's like. I wouldn't put it past her to call the police and say I stole them. COLLOCATIONS past NOUN
1
adjective + past : distant, recent
2
adjective + past : dark, murky, troubled, violent; colourful, glorious, rich SYNONYMS past ADJ 4
last: She got married last July.
recent: Sales have fallen by more than 75 percent in recent years.
previous: It was a surprisingly dry day after the rain of the previous week.
pas|ta /pæ stə, [AM ] pɑː stə/ (pastas ) N‑VAR Pasta is a type of food made from a mixture of flour, eggs, and water that is formed into different shapes and then boiled. Spaghetti, macaroni, and noodles are types of pasta.
paste /pe I st/ (pastes , pasting , pasted )
1 N‑VAR Paste is a soft, wet, sticky mixture of a substance and a liquid, which can be spread easily. Some types of paste are used to stick things together. □ Blend a little milk with the custard powder to form a paste. □ …wallpaper paste.
2 N‑VAR Paste is a soft smooth mixture made of crushed meat, fruit, or vegetables. You can, for example, spread it onto bread or use it in cooking. □ …tomato paste. □ …fish-paste sandwiches.
3 VERB If you paste something on a surface, you put glue or paste on it and stick it on the surface. □ [V n prep] …pasting labels on bottles. □ [V n with adv] Activists pasted up posters criticizing the leftist leaders. [Also V n with n]
4 N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Paste is a hard shiny glass that is used for making imitation jewellery. □ …paste emeralds.
5 → see also pasting
pas|tel /pæ st ə l, [AM ] pæste l/ (pastels )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] Pastel colours are pale rather than dark or bright. □ …delicate pastel shades. □ …pastel pink, blue, peach and green. ● N‑COUNT Pastel is also a noun. □ The lobby is decorated in pastels.
2 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Pastels are also small sticks of different coloured chalks that are used for drawing pictures. □ …pastels and charcoal. □ …the portrait in pastels.
3 N‑COUNT A pastel is a picture that has been done using pastels. □ …Degas's paintings, pastels, and prints.
pas|teur|ized /pɑː stʃəra I zd, pæ s-/ in BRIT, also use pasteurised ADJ [usu ADJ n] Pasteurized milk, cream, or cheese has had bacteria removed from it by a special heating process to make it safer to eat or drink.
pas|tiche /pæstiː ʃ/ (pastiches ) N‑VAR A pastiche is something such as a piece of writing or music in which the style is copied from somewhere else, or which contains a mixture of different styles. [FORMAL ] □ [+ of ] Peter Baker's bathroom is a brilliant pastiche of expensive interior design.