- an official document or ticket that shows that you have the right to enter or leave a place, to travel on a bus or train, etc.
- a boarding pass (= for a plane)
- There is no admittance without a security pass.
- We had backstage passes to the show.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by bus and trainb1- The official asked to see our passes.
- The complete ski package includes equipment hire, tuition and lift pass.
- Attendees will receive a free pass to the VIP lounge.
- I won two free passes to the red-carpet screening of a new movie.
- You have to show your passport and boarding pass before you can get on the plane.
- It's impossible to get backstage without a press pass.
- The travel pass is accepted on all local bus and train services.
- Individual tickets and festival passes can be bought at the box office.
- Please display your parking pass.
- The teacher wrote out a hall pass and handed it to her.
- I was caught in the hall during lesson time without a pass.
- The visitors were issued with day passes.
- You can save money by buying a monthly pass.
- You can buy a three-day pass that gives you entry to all the major sights.
- a monthly rail pass
- soldiers on a weekend pass
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- free
- day
- monthly
- …
- have
- use
- give somebody
- …
- on a pass
- pass to
- (especially British English) a successful result in an exam or test
- She got a pass in French.
- 12 passes and 3 fails
- Two A-level passes are needed for this course.
- The pass mark is 50 per cent.
- The school has a 90 per cent pass rate (= 90 per cent of students pass their exams).
Extra ExamplesTopics Educationb1- Applicants need a good degree pass.
- Use of quotations can mean the difference between a pass and a fail.
- He should get a good pass in mathematics.
- It's difficult to obtain a pass at A Level.
- The school is one of the top ten most-improved in the country, based on passes at GCSE.
- Pupils need at least five passes at A* to C grade.
- She barely scraped a pass in chemistry.
- The beach failed a hygiene inspection last year, but this year got a borderline pass.
- Exam pass rates get higher every year.
- A simple regurgitation of lecture notes would be unlikely to gain more than a pass mark.
- The points system is stringent, but those failing to meet the pass mark may still be able to obtain a resident visa.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- good
- exam
- examination
- …
- get
- obtain
- scrape
- …
- mark
- rate
- pass at
- pass in
- (in some sports) an act of hitting or throwing the ball to another player in your team
- a long pass to Turner
Extra ExamplesTopics Sports: ball and racket sportsc1- His long reach enables him to block passes.
- Lafferty played a pass down the right to Gallagher.
- Robson had pounced on a dropped pass.
- Ziege played a pass behind the defence to Weiss.
- Palmer caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Beach early in the fourth quarter.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- deep
- long
- short
- …
- play
- deliver
- get
- …
- pass from
- pass to
- a road or way over or through mountains
- a mountain pass
- They came over the top of the pass and started down towards the coast.
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by car or lorryc2- They had to struggle over the pass with their donkeys.
- We took the high pass over the ridge.
- building a road through the pass
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- low
- narrow
- …
- cross
- take
- over a/the pass
- through a/the pass
- pass over
- …
- the head of the pass
- the summit of the pass
- the top of the pass
- …
- an act of going or moving past or over something
- The helicopter made several passes over the village before landing.
- a stage in a process, especially one that involves separating things from a larger group
- In the first pass all the addresses are loaded into the database.
- [usually singular] (North American English, informal) a choice or suggestion that is rejected or dismissed
- If you don't like spicy food, you may want to give that dish a pass.
- No, I don't think it'll work. I'll take a pass on that.
official document
in exam
of ball
through mountains
moving past/over
stage in process
something that is rejected
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3 and noun senses 5 to 6 Middle English: from Old French passer, based on Latin passus ‘pace’. noun sense 4 Middle English (in the sense ‘division of a text, passage through’): variant of pace1, influenced by pass (verb) and French pas.
Idioms
See pass in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee pass in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishcome to such a pass
(also come to a pretty pass)
- (old-fashioned or humorous) to reach a sad or difficult state
- I never thought things would come to such a pass as this.
- Things have come to a such a pass when we can’t afford to pay the heating bills!
(give somebody/get) a free pass
- (informal) if you give somebody a free pass or somebody gets a free pass, they are not punished for something bad they have done, or they are given permission to do something bad
- This time he gets a free pass but if he does it again, he’ll be sent to jail.
- Just because someone has expensive designer gear, it doesn't mean they have a free pass to be mean to my staff.
make a pass at somebody
- (informal) to try to start a sexual relationship with somebody
Check pronunciation:
pass