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passing

Dictionary definition · passing

noun

  1. (American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate"the coach sent in a passing play on third and long"
  2. euphemistic expressions for death"thousands mourned his passing"
  3. the motion of one object relative to another"stellar passings can perturb the orbits of comets"
  4. the end of something"the passing of winter"
  5. a bodily reaction of changing from one place or stage to another"the passage of air from the lungs"
  6. going by something that is moving in order to get in front of it"she drove but well but her reckless passing of every car on the road frightened me"
  7. success in satisfying a test or requirement"his future depended on his passing that test"

adjective

  1. lasting a very short time"the ephemeral joys of childhood"
  2. of advancing the ball by throwing it"a team with a good passing attack"
  3. allowing you to pass (e.g., an examination or inspection) satisfactorily"a passing grade"
  4. hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough"a casual (or cursory) inspection failed to reveal the house's structural flaws"

adverb

  1. to an extraordinary degree"she was a surpassingly beautiful woman"

Source: Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).