pass#

pass vb Pass, pass away, elapse, expire mean to move or come to a termination or end.

Pass and pass away imply gradual or gentle movement to another state or condition; they often imply a transition from life to death but they may suggest a transition from any one state or time or season to another

{

all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity— Shak.

}

{

when those conditions have passed away and history returns to normal— W. P. Webb

}

{

but yet I know, where'er I go, that there has passed away a glory from the earth— Wordsworth

}

{

the strangeness of his life passed, and he began to feel what this city was— Buck

}

Elapse suggests a movement that seems like the slipping and gliding away of something that moves silently or without notice; the word applies particularly to a period of time, either in reference only to itself or in reference to something that should have been accomplished within that time

{

became burdensome to him as time elapsed and political conditions changed— Malone

}

{

all prophecies make sad reading when their term has elapsed— Krutch

}

{

the period for the payment of the debt had now elapsed

}

Expire basically means to breathe one's last breath and hence to die; but it comprehends the extended senses as well as the ordinary sense of die, and is used in reference to many things that come to an end as if by death

{

the flame of the candle suddenly expired

}

{

the society expired after a single meeting

}

{

in the expiring, diffused twilight— Conrad

}

{

suddenly their whispers expired— Bennett

}

It is often used with this underlying notion in reference to a period of time (as stated in a bond, a note, a promise, an agreement, a patent, or a lease) which has come to an end

{

your note, which was due on June 24, has now expired

}

{

the two years of grace which the bank gave the city will soon expire

}

{

when this copyright expires, it cannot be renewed, unless there is a new edition of the book

}

{

Antony regarded the triumvirate as having expired on the last day of 33 B.C. and did not wish it renewed— Buchan

}

Analogous words: depart, leave, quit, *go, withdraw: end, terminate (see CLOSE)

pass n passage, *way, route, course, artery