PASSAGE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does passage mean? 

• PASSAGE (noun)
  The noun PASSAGE has 10 senses:

1. the act of passing from one state or place to the next

2. a section of text; particularly a section of medium length

3. a way through or along which someone or something may pass

4. the passing of a law by a legislative body

5. a journey usually by ship

6. a short section of a musical composition

7. a path or channel or duct through or along which something may pass

8. a bodily reaction of changing from one place or stage to another

9. the motion of one object relative to another

10. the act of passing something to another person

  Familiarity information: PASSAGE used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PASSAGE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of passing from one state or place to the next

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

passage; transition

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

change of state (the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passage"):

segue (the act of changing smoothly from one state or situation to another)

fossilisation; fossilization (becoming inflexible or out of date)

Derivation:

pass (pass into a specified state or condition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A section of text; particularly a section of medium length

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

section; subdivision (a self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passage"):

purple passage (a passage full of ornate and flowery language)

text (a passage from the Bible that is used as the subject of a sermon)

transition (a passage that connects a topic to one that follows)

place (the passage that is being read)

locus classicus (an authoritative and often-quoted passage)

excerpt; excerption; extract; selection (a passage selected from a larger work)

Holonyms ("passage" is a part of...):

text; textual matter (the words of something written)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A way through or along which someone or something may pass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

way (any artifact consisting of a road or path affording passage from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passage"):

passageway (a passage between rooms or between buildings)

throat (a passage resembling a throat in shape or function)

shaft (a long vertical passage sunk into the earth, as for a mine or tunnel)

right of way (the passage consisting of a path or strip of land over which someone has the legal right to pass)

fish ladder (a series of ascending pools providing a passage for salmon to swim upstream past a dam)

cul; cul de sac; dead end (a passage with access only at one end)

conduit (a passage (a pipe or tunnel) through which water or electric wires can pass)

channel (a passage for water (or other fluids) to flow through)

aisle (a long narrow passage (as in a cave or woods))

adit (a nearly horizontal passage from the surface into a mine)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The passing of a law by a legislative body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

enactment; passage

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

lawmaking; legislating; legislation (the act of making or enacting laws)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

pass (make laws, bills, etc. or bring into effect by legislation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A journey usually by ship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

passage; transit

Context example:

the outward passage took 10 days

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

journey; journeying (the act of traveling from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passage"):

lockage (passage through a lock in a canal or waterway)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A short section of a musical composition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

musical passage; passage

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

composition; musical composition; opus; piece; piece of music (a musical work that has been created)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passage"):

impromptu (a short musical passage that seems to have been made spontaneously without advance preparation)

modulation; transition (a musical passage moving from one key to another)

recitative (a vocal passage of narrative text that a singer delivers with natural rhythms of speech)

adagio ((music) a composition played in adagio tempo (slowly and gracefully))

largo ((music) a composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner)

cadenza (a brilliant solo passage occurring near the end of a piece of music)

cadence (the close of a musical section)

musical phrase; phrase (a short musical passage)

intro (a brief introductory passage to a piece of popular music)

fortissimo (a musical composition or musical passage to be performed very loudly)

forte (a musical composition or musical passage to be performed loudly)

andante (a musical composition or musical passage to be performed moderately slow)

allegretto (a musical composition or musical passage to be performed at a somewhat quicker tempo than andante but not as fast as allegro)

allegro (a musical composition or musical passage to be performed quickly in a brisk lively manner)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A path or channel or duct through or along which something may pass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

passage; passageway

Context example:

the nasal passages

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passage"):

fauces (the passage between the back of the mouth and the pharynx)

shunt (a passage by which a bodily fluid (especially blood) is diverted from one channel to another)

fistula; sinus (an abnormal passage leading from a suppurating cavity to the body surface)

epicardia (the short part of the esophagus extending downward from the diaphragm to the stomach)

esophagus; gorge; gullet; oesophagus (the passage between the pharynx and the stomach)

root canal (the passage in the root of a tooth through which its nerve and blood vessels enter the pulp cavity)

sinusoid (tiny endothelium-lined passages for blood in the tissue of an organ)

canal; channel; duct; epithelial duct (a bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance)

opening; orifice; porta (an aperture or hole that opens into a bodily cavity)

meatus (a natural body passageway)

birth canal (a passage in the uterus and vagina through which a fetus passes during vaginal birth)

carpal tunnel (a passageway in the wrist through which nerves and the flexor muscles of the hands pass)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A bodily reaction of changing from one place or stage to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

passage; passing

Context example:

the passing of flatus

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

reaction; response (a bodily process occurring due to the effect of some antecedent stimulus or agent)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The motion of one object relative to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

passage; passing

Context example:

stellar passings can perturb the orbits of comets

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

motion; movement (a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something)

Derivation:

pass (travel past)

Sense 10

Meaning:

The act of passing something to another person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

handing over; passage

Hypernyms ("passage" is a kind of...):

bringing; delivery (the act of delivering or distributing something (as goods or mail))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "passage"):

relay (the act of passing something along from one person or group to another)

Derivation:

pass (place into the hands or custody of)

 Context examples 

“If you have any opportunity of sending letters home, on your passage, Mrs. Micawber,” said my aunt, “you must let us hear from you, you know.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

His nose gave him a varying description of the passage of the life on the heels of which he was travelling.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Describes the passage from the nose to the stomach.

(Nasogastric, NCI Dictionary)

One passage of it, at least, gave me a thrill of pleasure.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The blockage of the nasal passage due to mucosal edema.

(Nasal Congestion, NCI Thesaurus)

I flew to the door and looked into the passage: it was dark.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Following him down the passage I was suddenly interrupted by a small woman, who stepped out from what proved to be the dining-room door.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Aye, aye, sir,” cried the cook, in the passage.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The number of passages a line of cultured cells has gone through is an indication of its age and expected stability.

(Passage, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Raa! when they came to a narrow passage and the team closed together like a fan to go through.

(White Fang, by Jack London)