Word of the Day: Past
past / past
adjective
1. ago
A man may be a doddering great grandfather and still love only a strange girl he saw in the streets of Cheehaw one afternoon decades past.
Carson McCullers, 1917-1967
2. elapsed in time; just gone
For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’
Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
3. previous; having formerly been or served as
The immediate Past-President serves as a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, helping to shape policy for the Division and contributing, from the experience as president and knowledge and insight gained, to the future direction and leadership of ALSC.
4. of or relating to a verb tense expressive of elapsed time; in English, formed by internal vowel change
Nothing is improbable until it moves into the past tense.
George Ade, 1866-1944
5. having taken place in a period before the present
Sweet is the memory of past labor.
Greek Proverb
preposition
1. after; beyond in time
My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.
from ‘The Woman in White’ by Wilkie Collins, 1824-1889
2. farther on then
The best way to heal a broken heart, it turns out, is to find a way to move past the hurt.
Mary Kay Andrews, 1954-
3. beyond in amount
I think once you’re past 30 you shouldn’t wear a lot of glitter.
Chloe Sevigny, 1974-
4. beyond reach, scope, etc.
I believe you are never past the point of creating opportunities for yourself.
Felicia Day, 1979-
adverb
1. so as to pass by
Did you know…that when you walk past a flower, whether it be in somebody’s garden or on a vacant hillside, the flower will always smile at you.
Ron Atchison, 1930-2010
noun
1. time gone by
Regretting the past is like chasing after the wind.
Russian Proverb
2. the history of a person, place, etc.
No matter her past, when a chambermaid marries a lord she becomes a lady.
Latin Proverb
