Past
WordNet
adjective
(1) Earlier than the present time; no longer current
"Time past"
"His youth is past"
"This past Thursday"
"The past year"
(2) A verb tense or other construction referring to events or states that existed at some previous time
"Past participle"
adverb
(3) So as to pass a given point
"Every hour a train goes past"
noun
(4) A verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past
(5) The time that has elapsed
"Forget the past"
(6) A earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret)
"Reporters dug into the candidate's past"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From , past participle of
Noun
- The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.
- The past tense.
Adjective
- Having already happened; in the past; finished.
- past glories
- Relating to the past.
- past tense
- (of a period of time) the one before this one
- during the past year
Preposition
- beyond in place, quantity or time
- the room past mine
- count past twenty
- past Midnight
Usage notes
- The preposition past is used to tell the time. The time 5:05 is said as five past five. 5:10 as ten past five. 5:15 as quarter past five. 5:20 as twenty past five. 5:25 as twenty-five past five. 5:30 as half past five. If we are aware of the approximate time, we can just use e.g. five past, ten past etc. See the example below.
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- I thought it was about six o'clock, but it was actually ten past.
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- Compare with to (five to, ten to, quarter to, twenty to, twenty-five to)
- See also: o'clock