1. adjective [street] busy.

2. noun, masculine, feminine passer-by.

3. masculine noun (on belt, watchstrap) loop.

1. transitive verb
   1. to cross [river, border];
      to go through [door, customs];
      to get over [hedge, obstacle];
      il m'a fait ~ la frontière he got me across the border;
      ~ qch à la douane to get sth through customs;
   2. to go past, to pass;
      quand vous aurez passé le feu, tournez à droite turn right after the lights;
      le malade ne passera pas la nuit the patient won't last the night;
   3. ~ le doigt sur la table to run one's finger over the table-top;
      ~ la tête à la fenêtre to stick one's head out of the window;
   4. to pass [object];
      to pass [sth] on [instructions, disease];
      ~ sa colère sur ses collègues to take one's anger out on one's colleagues;
   5. to lend;
      to give;
   6. (on phone) tu peux me ~ Chris? can you put Chris on?;
      je vous le passe I'm putting you through;
   7. to take, to sit [examination];
      to have [interview];
      faire ~ un test à qn to give sb a test;
   8. to spend [time];
      dépêche-toi, on ne va pas y ~ la nuit! (familiar) hurry up, or we'll be here all night!;
   9. elle leur passe tout she lets them get away with murder;
   10. to skip [page, paragraph];
       je vous passe les détails I'll spare you the details;
   11. ~ l'aspirateur to vacuum;
   12. to filter [coffee];
       to strain [fruit juice, sauce];
       to purée [vegetables];
   13. to slip [sth] on [garment, ring];
       to slip into [dress];
   14. to play [record, cassette];
       to show [film, slides];
       to place [ad];
   15. to enter into [agreement];
       to place [order];
   16. Aut ~ la troisième to go into third gear;
   17. Games ~ son tour to pass.

2. intransitive verb (+ v être)
   1. to go past or by, to pass;
      ~ sur un pont to go over a bridge;
      le facteur n'est pas encore passé the postman hasn't been yet;
      ~ à côté de [person] to pass;
      [road] to run alongside;
      ~ à pied/à bicyclette to walk/cycle past;
   2. je ne fais que ~ I've just popped in GB or dropped by for a minute;
      ~ dans la matinée [plumber] to come by in the morning;
      ~ prendre qn/qch to pick sb/sth up;
   3. to go;
      passons au salon let's go into the lounge;
      les contrebandiers sont passés en Espagne the smugglers have crossed into Spain;
   4. to get through;
      tu ne passeras pas, c'est trop étroit you'll never get through, it's too narrow;
      il m'a fait signe de ~ he waved me on;
      vas-y, ça passe! go on, there's plenty of room!;
      ~ par-dessus bord to fall overboard;
      il est passé par la fenêtre he fell out of the window;
      he got in through the window;
   5. ~ par to go through;
      ~ par le standard to go through the switchboard;
      je ne sais jamais ce qui te passe par la tête I never know what's going on in your head;
   6. (familiar) il accuse le patron, ses collègues, bref, tout le monde y passe he's accusing the boss, his colleagues—basically, everyone in sight;
      que ça te plaise ou non, il va falloir y ~ whether you like it or not, there's no alternative;
      on ne peut pas faire autrement que d'en ~ par là there is no other way around it;
   7. ~ sur to pass over [question, mistake];
      ~ à côté d'une question to miss the point;
      laisser ~ une occasion to miss an opportunity;
   8. soit dit en ~ incidentally;
   9. [comments, speech] to go down well;
      [law, measure, candidate] to get through;
      [attitude, doctrine] to be accepted;
      j'ai mangé quelque chose qui n'est pas passé I ate something which didn't agree with me;
      que je sois critiqué, passe encore, mais calomnié, non! criticism is one thing, but I draw the line at slander;
      ~ au premier tour to be elected in the first round;
      ~ dans la classe supérieure to move up to the year above;
      (ça) passe pour cette fois (familiar) I'll let it go this time;
   10. ~ à l'ennemi to go over to the enemy;
       ~ de main en main to be passed around;
       ~ constamment d'un sujet à l'autre to flit from one subject to another;
       ~ à un taux supérieur to go up to a higher rate;
   11. ~ pour un imbécile to look a fool;
       ~ pour un génie to pass as a genius;
       il passe pour l'inventeur de l'ordinateur he's supposed to have invented computers;
       il se fait ~ pour mon frère he passes himself off as my brother;
   12. [pain, crisis] to pass;
       quand l'orage sera or aura passé when the storm is over;
       ça passera [bad mood] it'll pass;
       [hurt] you'll get over it;
       ~ de mode to go out of fashion;
       faire ~ à qn l'envie de faire to cure sb of the desire to do;
       ce médicament fait ~ les maux d'estomac this medicine relieves stomach ache;
   13. [performer, group] (on stage) to be appearing;
       (on TV, radio) to be on;
       [show, film] to be on;
       [music] to be playing;
   14. ~ avant/après to come before/after;
       il fait ~ sa famille avant ses amis he puts his family before his friends;
   15. (familiar) où étais-tu passé? where did you get to?;
       où est passé mon livre? where has my book got to?;
   16. [time] to pass, to go by;
       je ne vois pas le temps ~ I don't know where the time goes;
   17. to turn to;
       ~ à l'étape suivante to move on to the next stage;
       nous allons ~ au vote let's vote now;
   18. ~ de père en fils to be handed down from father to son;
       l'expression est passée dans la langue the expression has become part of the language;
   19. to be promoted to;
       elle est passée maître dans l'art de mentir she's an accomplished liar;
   20. [money, amount] to go on or into;
       [product, material] to go into;
   21. (familiar) y ~ to die;
   22. [colour, material] to fade;
   23. [coffee] to filter;
   24. ~ en marche arrière to go into reverse;
       la troisième passe mal third gear is a bit stiff;
   25. (in bridge, poker) to pass.

3. se passer reflexive verb (+ v être)
   1. to happen;
      tout s'est passé très vite it all happened very fast;
      tout se passe comme si le yen avait été dévalué it's as if the yen had been devalued;
   2. to take place;
      la scène se passe au Viêt Nam the scene is set in Vietnam;
   3. [examination, negotiations] to go;
      ça ne se passera pas comme ça! I won't leave it at that!;
   4. [period] to go by, to pass;
      deux ans se sont passés depuis that was two years ago;
   5. se ~ de to do without [object, activity, person];
      to go without [meal, sleep];
      se ~ de commentaires to speak for itself;
   6. se ~ la langue sur les lèvres to run one's tongue over one's lips;
      se ~ la main sur le front to put a hand to one's forehead;
   7. ils se sont passé des documents they exchanged some documents.

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