to pass on
- phrasal verb
- /pæs ɑn/
- She chose to pass on the opportunity for a promotion in order to focus on her family.
- pass on information
- pass on knowledge
- pass on values
I'm with you, but I can, I can pass on a lot of fights.
- I'm with you, but I can, I can pass on a lot of fights.
- And loads of you have been warning me about this episode, so I should pass on the warning.
- I mean, OK, let's say retirement for me means spending a lot more time passing on my knowledge.
- I famously passed on Uber twice in the Angel round from one of my best friends.
- The powders just kind of get a little chalky and choppy and weird, so I'm passing on that.
- And that is that that's and, and smart people pick it up that knowledge and pass it on.
- Well, I'd sent a script to Steve Kunberg, and he passed on it on a previous script.
Examples
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Often, the music is simply sung and passed on through oral tradition.
Academic text (1995) -
Socialization describes how society passes on values, attitudes, and cultural norms from one generation to the next.
Academic text (2011) -
Absolutely no nation in the world would pass on it or even accept it.
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I say we just pass on this one and fail.
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Never pass on the opportunity for your next meal.
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I'll pass on this one after all.
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And loads of you have been warning me about this episode, so I should pass on the warning.
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In many cultures, short teaching tales are used to pass on important values.
Academic text (1995) -
I could take the jobs I wanted and pass on the ones I didn't.
Academic text (2011) -
I decided to pass on the dessert at the restaurant because I was too full.
Synonyms
To give something to another person
Refuse an offer, invitation, or request
Give news, a message, or something you received to another person
To choose not to accept a good offer or chance
Hand something to each person in a group
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
pass + on
The sense 'to convey/relay' is directly derivable from 'pass' (give/hand) + 'on' (forward), so a learner who knows the constituents would likely infer that meaning. However, the common use 'I will pass on the dessert' meaning 'I will decline' is a pragmatic/idiomatic extension that is not fully predictable from the parts, so the item is only partly transparent.
Etymology
Pass on also has two everyday images: in a card game you pass to skip your turn and let play move to the next player, so you 'decline' the offer, and when you tell someone else you pass a message on down the line. That's why it can mean 'to decline' or 'to relay' a message.