Passover

Multiple Entries:
  Passover    pass  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
Passover/ˈpɑːsəʊvə(r)/

▶noun the major Jewish spring festival, commemorating the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian servitude.

– origin from pass over, with ref. to the exemption of the Israelites from the death of their firstborn (Exod. 12).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pass1

▶verb

• 1 move or cause to move in a specified direction.

  ■ change from one state or condition to another.

• 2 go past or across; leave behind or on one side in proceeding.

  ■ surpass; exceed.

  ■ Tennis hit a winning shot past (an opponent).

• 3 (of time) elapse; go by.

  ■ happen; be done or said.

  ■ spend or use up (time).

  ■ come to an end.

• 4 transfer (something) to someone, especially by handing or bequeathing it to the next person in a series.

  ■ (in ball games) kick, hit, or throw (the ball) to a teammate.

• 5 be successful in (an examination, test, or course).

  ■ judge the performance or standard of (someone or something) to be satisfactory.

  ■ (pass as/for) be accepted as.

  ■ be accepted as adequate; go unremarked.

• 6 approve or put into effect (a proposal or law) by voting on it.

• 7 pronounce (a judgement or sentence).

  ■ utter (remarks, especially criticism).

  ■ (pass on/upon) archaic give a judgement on.

• 8 discharge (urine or faeces) from the body.

• 9 forgo one's turn or an opportunity to do or have something.

  ■ [as exclam.] (in response to a question) I do not know.

  ■ (of a company) not declare or pay (a dividend).

▶noun

• 1 an act or instance of moving past or through something.

  ■ a thrust in fencing.

  ■ a juggling trick.

  ■ Computing a single scan through a set of data or a program.

• 2 a success in an examination.

  ■ Brit. the achievement of a university degree without honours.

• 3 a card, ticket, or permit giving authorization for the holder to enter or have access to a place, form of transport, or event.

• 4 (in ball games) an act of passing the ball to a teammate.

• 5 informal an amorous or sexual advance.

• 6 a state or situation of a specified (usually bad) nature.

• 7 Bridge an act of refraining from bidding during the auction.

– phrases
come to a pretty pass reach a regrettable state of affairs.
pass water urinate.

– phrasal verbs
pass away (of a person) die.
pass someone by happen without being noticed or fully experienced by someone.
pass off happen or be carried through in a specified (usually satisfactory) way.
pass something off evade or lightly dismiss an awkward remark.
pass something off as falsely represent something as.
pass out

• 1 become unconscious.

• 2 Brit. complete one's initial training in the armed forces.

pass over (or pass on) (of a person) die.
pass someone over ignore the claims of someone to advancement.
pass something over avoid mentioning or considering something.
pass something up refrain from taking up an opportunity.

– derivatives
passer noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. passer, based on L. passus ‘pace’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pass2

▶noun a route over or through mountains.

– phrases
sell the pass Brit. betray a cause.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘division of a text, passage through’): var. of pace1, influenced by pass1 and Fr. pas.