PASS ON

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does pass on mean? 

• PASS ON (verb)
  The verb PASS ON has 7 senses:

1. place into the hands or custody of

2. transmit (knowledge or skills)

3. move forward, also in the metaphorical sense

4. give to or transfer possession of

5. refer to another person for decision or judgment

6. cause to be distributed

7. transmit information

  Familiarity information: PASS ON used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PASS ON (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Place into the hands or custody of

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

give; hand; pass; pass on; reach; turn over

Context example:

He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers

Hypernyms (to "pass on" is one way to...):

transfer (cause to change ownership)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pass on"):

give (leave with; give temporarily)

slip; sneak (pass on stealthily)

deal (give (a specific card) to a player)

deliver; fork out; fork over; fork up; hand over; render; turn in (to surrender someone or something to another)

free; give up; release; relinquish; resign (part with a possession or right)

commit; confide; entrust; intrust; trust (confer a trust upon)

entrust; leave (put into the care or protection of someone)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sentence example:

They pass on the parcel to their parents

Sense 2

Meaning:

Transmit (knowledge or skills)

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

give; impart; leave; pass on

Context example:

impart a new skill to the students

Hypernyms (to "pass on" is one way to...):

tell (let something be known)

Verb group:

bequeath; leave; will (leave or give by will after one's death)

give (convey or reveal information)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pass on"):

convey ((of information) make known; pass on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sentence example:

They won't pass on the story

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move forward, also in the metaphorical sense

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

advance; go on; march on; move on; pass on; progress

Context example:

Time marches on

Hypernyms (to "pass on" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pass on"):

overhaul; overtake; pass (travel past)

elapse; glide by; go along; go by; lapse; pass; slide by; slip away; slip by (pass by)

rachet up; ratchet; ratchet down (move by degrees in one direction only)

edge; inch (advance slowly, as if by inches)

close in; draw in (advance or converge on)

plough on; press on; push on (continue moving forward)

encroach; impinge; infringe (advance beyond the usual limit)

creep up; sneak up (advance stealthily or unnoticed)

penetrate (make one's way deeper into or through)

forge (move ahead steadily)

string; string along (move or come along)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Give to or transfer possession of

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

She passed the family jewels on to her daughter-in-law

Hypernyms (to "pass on" is one way to...):

bequeath; leave; will (leave or give by will after one's death)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pass on"):

propagate (transmit from one generation to the next)

hand down (passed on, as by inheritance)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Refer to another person for decision or judgment

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

pass on; relegate; submit

Context example:

She likes to relegate difficult questions to her colleagues

Hypernyms (to "pass on" is one way to...):

submit (refer for judgment or consideration)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 6

Meaning:

Cause to be distributed

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

circulate; distribute; pass around; pass on

Context example:

This letter is being circulated among the faculty

Hypernyms (to "pass on" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pass on"):

send around (forward to others)

utter (put into circulation)

scatter; spread; spread out (strew or distribute over an area)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Transmit information

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

communicate; pass; pass along; pass on; put across

Context example:

pass along the good news

Hypernyms (to "pass on" is one way to...):

communicate; convey; transmit (transfer to another)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pass on"):

send a message (give or constitute a signal, not necessarily verbally)

relay (pass along)

get across; put over (communicate successfully)

ask for; bespeak; call for; quest; request (express the need or desire for)

telecommunicate (communicate over long distances, as via the telephone or e-mail)

acknowledge; receipt (report the receipt of)

carry (pass on a communication)

deliver; render; return (pass down)

message (send as a message)

message (send a message to)

implant; plant (put firmly in the mind)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

 Context examples 

Pass on the other side of the road, fellow, and let us have the wind of you.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you have a stone that won't pass on its own, you may need treatment.

(Kidney Stones, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

And now if we pass on to the second point we find that each throws light upon the other.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He joined them; but, as if irresolute whether to join or to pass on, said nothing, only looked.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Death stalked everywhere, and it was only a matter of time when some one of those many huge seas would fall upon the boat, roll over it, and pass on.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile; a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

In the morning came the fox again and met him as he was beginning his journey, and said, Go straight forward, till you come to a castle, before which lie a whole troop of soldiers fast asleep and snoring: take no notice of them, but go into the castle and pass on and on till you come to a room, where the golden bird sits in a wooden cage; close by it stands a beautiful golden cage; but do not try to take the bird out of the shabby cage and put it into the handsome one, otherwise you will repent it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I do remember now being with you, and seeing him as well as the rest—but that we were ever alone for five minutes—However, it is not worth arguing about, for whatever might pass on his side, you must be convinced, by my having no recollection of it, that I never thought, nor expected, nor wished for anything of the kind from him.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

As I looked after his figure, crossing the waste in the moonlight, I saw him turn his face towards a strip of silvery light upon the sea, and pass on, looking at it, until he was a shadow in the distance.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This was when I chanced to see the third-storey staircase door (which of late had always been kept locked) open slowly, and give passage to the form of Grace Poole, in prim cap, white apron, and handkerchief; when I watched her glide along the gallery, her quiet tread muffled in a list slipper; when I saw her look into the bustling, topsy-turvy bedrooms,—just say a word, perhaps, to the charwoman about the proper way to polish a grate, or clean a marble mantelpiece, or take stains from papered walls, and then pass on.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)