1. (

• pass ,
• passing_play ,
• passing_game ,
• passing ,

) (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. (

• passing ,
• loss ,
• departure ,
• exit ,
• expiration ,
• going ,
• release

) euphemistic expressions for death; "thousands mourned his passing" ;

3. (

• passing ,
• passage

) the motion of one object relative to another; "stellar passings can perturb the orbits of comets" ;

4. (

• passing ,

) the end of something; "the passing of winter" ;

5. (

• passage ,
• passing ,

) a bodily reaction of changing from one place or stage to another; "the passage of air from the lungs"; "the passing of flatus" ;

6. (

• passing ,
• overtaking

) 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. (

• passing ,
• pass ,
• qualifying

) success in satisfying a test or requirement; "his future depended on his passing that test"; "he got a pass in introductory chemistry" ;

1. (

• ephemeral ,
• passing ,
• short-lived ,
• transient ,
• transitory ,
• fugacious

) lasting a very short time; "the ephemeral joys of childhood"; "a passing fancy"; "youth's transient beauty"; "love is transitory but it is eternal"; "fugacious blossoms" ;

2. (

• passing ,
• pass

) of advancing the ball by throwing it; "a team with a good passing attack"; "a pass play" ;

3. (

• passing

) allowing you to pass (e.g., an examination or inspection) satisfactorily; "a passing grade" ;

4. (

• casual ,
• cursory ,
• passing ,
• perfunctory ,
• superficial

) hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough; "a casual (or cursory) inspection failed to reveal the house's structural flaws"; "a passing glance"; "perfunctory courtesy"; "In his paper, he showed a very superficial understanding of psychoanalytic theory" ;