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passing

passing

33 2.8
The end of a period or event
  • noun
  • /ˈpæsɪŋ/
translation icon : paso
  • But with each passing year, AI is becoming less artificial and more alien.
  • the passing of time
  • the passing of years
  • the passing of a tradition

I have no memory of that time passing or even going to lay down or kneeling to pray.

Examples

  • Over the passing of the years, it's beginning to distress me.

  • I didn't notice the passing time or the school emptying while my little sister waited obediently.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • We experience time as passing with a special moment that we call now.

  • Oh, let me just reflect back on the passing years.

  • These are the ordinary and the profound experiences of time passing, common across centuries.

  • So these artists' parties became the events that Romy used to mark the passing of the months.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • People growing up, growing old: a nod in passing, a glad greeting.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • But with each passing month, colonial opposition grows stronger and more impassioned.

  • What we're seeing is more of a passing of the torch from human gatekeepers to algorithmic ones.

  • The community held a memorial service to honor the passing of a beloved local artist.

Synonyms

ending
vspassing
398 1.0

The final part of something, like an event, story, or relationship

is about the process of something finishing over time
passage
vspassing
68 3.2

Movement of something from one place or state to another

focuses on the finish rather than the transitional movement between states
end of the line
vspassing
47 4.1

The point when something stops or finishes

is a broader term for the general closing of a period or event

Antonyms

56 3.6

An act of something keeping going without stopping

1.0

Something that is at the first stage of a process

Idioms

27 3.8

While mentioning something briefly without giving it much attention

Compounds

passing game
  • Jargon
25 3.6

A series of plays in American football that move the ball by throwing to teammates

passing play
  • Specialized
1 4.4

A play in American football where a player throws the ball forward to a teammate

The death of a woman's husband

A short casual remark that someone says without thinking

1 7.1

Act of putting blame on others to avoid doing a job you should do

passing shot
  • Specialized
1 4.6

A tennis hit that goes past an opponent at the net

A workplace culture where people avoid responsibility by blaming others

A light on a car that makes a low beam to light the road without hurting other drivers' eyes

passing note
  • Specialized
7.2

A small note between two main notes in a melody that connects them smoothly

passing tone
  • Specialized
7.8

A note played between two main notes to make the tune move smoothly

8.2

To let out urine from the body

How Final

termination
3 5.5
ending
398 1.0
passing
33 2.8
interruption
99 3.0
pause
192 1.0

Surface Forms

passing singular
passings plural

Morphology

passing = pass (transparent) = pass + ing

A verbal noun/gerund from 'pass' describing the elapsing or coming to an end of time, which learners can infer from 'time passes'.

Etymology

Passing comes from pass, which people used for time moving by. The passing of a season or decade means its end or movement away, so the word shows that something has gone by.