PASSING Definition & Meaning

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passing

[ pas-ing ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

going by or past; elapsing:
He was feeling better with each passing day.
brief, fleeting, or fortuitous; transitory:
to take a passing fancy to something.
done, given, etc., in passing; cursory:
a passing mention.
surpassing, preeminent, or extreme.
indicating satisfactory performance in a course, on a paper, in a test, etc.:
a passing grade on a test.
living or being known as a member of a racial, religious, or ethnic group other than one's own, especially living and being known as a white person although of Black ancestry:
Employees with a passing racial identity expressed frequent discomfort in the workplace.
Sometimes Offensive. being known or perceived as a gender other than the one assigned at birth:
Passing women who dress and live as men have existed throughout history.
The environment might be safer for a passing trans man than for someone who is obviously transgender.

adverb

surpassingly; exceedingly; very.

noun

the act of a person or thing that passes or causes something to pass.
a means or place of passage.

passing

/ ˈ��ɑː��ɪŋ /

adjective

transitory or momentary
a passing fancy
cursory or casual in action or manner
a passing reference

adverb

archaic.
to an extreme degree
the events were passing strange

noun

a place where or means by which one may pass, cross, ford, etc
a euphemism for death
in passing
by the way; incidentally
he mentioned your visit in passing

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Other �y��vlog Forms

�貹��·��Բ�·�� adverb
�貹��·��Բ�·�Ա�� noun
�ܲ�·�貹��·��Բ� adjective

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of passing¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; pass + -ing ¹ for the noun senses; pass + -ing ²( def ) for the adjective senses

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Idioms and Phrases

in passing, by the way; incidentally:
The speaker mentioned his latest book in passing.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Then this guy Ron Handler from DreamWorks somehow heard about Warner Bros. passing and was like, “I want to come down to the studio and hear what you guys are doing.”

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In a statement, Dreamtime Dentistry said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic passing of our young patient, which occurred several hours after her completed dental procedure.”

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The policy prohibits workers from passing out smoking supplies in streets, parks and other public spaces, instead requiring such handouts be conducted indoors or at city-sanctioned locations.

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So let’s turn Simpson’s passing into a teachable moment by revisiting his record.

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A junta spokesperson later confirmed that soldiers had shot at the vehicles, saying they had not been notified that the convoy would be passing through and fired warning shots after it failed to stop.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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