to pass by
97
3.0
- phrasal verb
- /pæs baɪ/
- Driving along looking for their house, the next couple of minutes pass by like an hour.
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Watch on YouTubeWe let the world pass by for forever.
- We let the world pass by for forever.
- And so the first three months just passes by and they don't even register.
- And Oh my God, the whole day passed by.
- If you don't resist experience in the moment, you know it's passing by.
- Fart Blossoms only come once a year, so don't let them pass by you.
- Maybe you didn't know what to say and then so much time passed by, he just became crippled by it.
- There are hiking trails, biking trails, walking trails that you've always passed by, but you've never turned and ventured down.
- Three more months passed by or whatever it is and now he decides to go cheat.
- The rest it will just pass by like a few years from now will be nice and over.
- And the only way we know it's fake is that the amount of time had to have passed by, right?
- He had let all of life passing by and never did anything.
- Please don't pass by it, but stop by and and forbid it.
Examples
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But think about the how many people I pass by for different reasons before I landed on these guys.
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Where life keeps passing by me day by day
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Maybe, uh, you saw him pass by?
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The thing is, I let so much time pass by.
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Let the small things pass by and focus on what's important.
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And with anything, the more years that pass by, the more laughable.
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And so the first three months just passes by and they don't even register.
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There are hiking trails, biking trails, walking trails that you've always passed by, but you've never turned and ventured down.
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I didn't notice the beautiful flowers as I let the opportunity to admire them pass by.
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While walking through the bustling market, I had to rush and let the chance to try the food pass by.
Synonyms
174
1.0
To move past someone or something
80
4.4
To go without comment or challenge
68
3.0
For time to pass without anyone noticing
56
4.2
Pass through something so it is not noticed or stopped
18
3.8
To go past quickly without anyone noticing, as with time or chances
5
4.2
Time passes smoothly without you noticing
1
6.3
To go unnoticed by people or officials
Antonyms
How Noticeable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to go past without being noticed or taken up' is directly derivable from combining 'pass' (to move or go beyond) with 'by' (alongside/near), giving the clear image of something moving past someone. This motion-to-figurative extension (an opportunity literally passing by) follows a standard verb+preposition composition found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the parts should understand it.
Etymology
One popular image for pass by is pass meaning 'to move' and by meaning 'past': imagine a train going past the platform while you stay behind, so the chance to get on goes past you. That's why pass by can mean 'to be missed or ignored' or 'to go past without being noticed'.