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Glite Dictionary
😵 To faint 📄 To give out
to pass out

to pass out

188 3.7
To faint or lose consciousness suddenly
  • phrasal verb
  • /pæs aʊt/
translation icon : desmayarse
  • And there was someone there that got so drunk they passed out in the stall.
  • vomited and passed out
  • drunk and passed out

So he hits the water and he passes out.

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Examples

  • We tried to wake him, but he's passed out cold.

    The Covenant (2006)

  • She was injured and she passed out.

    Columbus Circle (2012)

  • People are just passed out on the streets, in the hospital.

  • You know, you saw me passed out on the floor.

    Midnight (2020)

  • "I went to bed and passed out last night, just as I described."

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I took one step and I just passed out and started crying for no reason.

  • I feel like I'm going to pass out right when I wake up in the morning.

  • Dawg, I'm literally about to pass out.

    Tina and Lori (2021)

  • Staggering from the car to the house, Doc passes out on the couch in front of the television.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • After running the marathon, she felt dizzy and was afraid she might pass out from exhaustion.

Synonyms

to faint
vsto pass out
151 3.2

Lose consciousness for a short time

is sudden loss of consciousness without specifying blood supply cause
to black out
vsto pass out
46 5.4

To suddenly lose consciousness for a short time

is sudden loss of consciousness without implying external injury or shock
to swoon
vsto pass out
27 7.7

To faint because of strong emotion or physical weakness

is sudden loss of consciousness regardless of emotional or physical trigger
to keel over
vsto pass out
  • Informal
16 5.7

Fall down suddenly because you faint or feel very weak

is sudden unconsciousness that may not include an obvious fall or collapse
to conk
vsto pass out
  • Slang
6 9.0

To suddenly faint or fall unconscious

is a neutral medical description of a temporary sudden loss of consciousness

Antonyms

to wake up
∞ 1.0

To stop sleeping or make someone else stop sleeping

to revive
71 4.1

To make a person conscious again after fainting

How Unconscious

to black out
46 5.4
to pass out
188 3.7
to faint
151 3.2

Surface Forms

pass out infinitive
passed out past
passed out past participle
passing out present participle
passes out third person singular

Morphology

pass + out

The meaning 'to become unconscious' is partially derivable because 'pass' can mean 'to go into a state' and 'out' signals a complete/terminal change, so the combination can be interpreted as 'go out' or lose consciousness. However, many learners know 'pass' only as 'give' and the intransitive, metaphorical extension is not fully predictable without prior exposure, making this a phrasal-verb case of partial transparency.

Etymology

Pass out comes from the idea of pass + out: someone 'passes' from being awake to being 'out', like a light that goes out. So it means 'to become unconscious'.