Definition, synonyms and related words
simple past tense and past participle of pass
"I passed the exam after studying all night, so I can finally celebrate my success."
In plain English: Passed means to go by or move past something while traveling from one place to another.
"She passed the test with flying colors."
Usage: Use "passed" to describe an action that has already happened, such as when someone walked by or a deadline went by. Do not use it for the state of having successfully completed a test or exam; instead, say you "passed" the test only if you mean you succeeded in taking it, while "passed" alone usually refers to motion or time moving forward.
That has passed beyond a certain point (chiefly in set collocations).
"The deadline for submitting applications has already passed, so we can no longer accept new entries."
In plain English: Passed means something that has been approved or accepted by an authority.
"The failed exam was passed down to the next student for review."
Usage: Use "passed" only in fixed phrases like "passed away" or "passed down," where it functions as part of an idiom rather than a standard adjective describing a current state. Do not use it to modify a noun directly, such as saying "the passed time," because the correct form is the past participle "past."
Passed is the past tense of pass, derived from Old French passer via Latin transire, originally meaning to go across or beyond something. It retains this core sense of moving through space while also evolving to denote completion of an action or failure in a test.