Dictionary

pass out en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To faint; to become unconscious.
   • I passed out on the train after drinking a bottle of vodka.
   • I pass out at the sight of blood.
   • At the end of the presentations, the whole folk scene joined hands and sang We Shall Overcome so many times that everybody passed out. 1965 December, Phil Ochs, “That Was The Year That Weren't”, in Cavalier:
2. (slang) To fall asleep irrespective of wilful action, as a result of the consumption of alcohol or other drugs or another form of physiological exhaustion.
3. (transitive) To distribute.
   • Near-synonyms: hand out, give out
   • We'll pass out copies of the agenda.
4. (of soldiers, qualifier:fire-fighters, usually) To graduate, usually marked by a ceremony at the end of training.
   • "She had asked at Paddington for a return to Lympstone on the Exmouth branch, where her son was due to pass out as a Royal Marine that afternoon, at the local training camp. "Presumably, the booking clerk had misheard her and sold her a ticket to Leominster, and other helpful staff had unwittingly helped her on her way. 2022 July 13, “Stop & Examine”, in RAIL, number 961, page 71:
   • He wasn't allowed to finish his training to go to France; but was sent to England on a Physical Training Course and passed out First Class. 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 113:
5. (broadly) To become proficient in a particular job or task.
   • "It took me about a month to pass out on this box," he adds. "It's easy to be daunted by all the levers and bell codes and Absolute Block, but it's all the usual rules of anywhere else. You can't just come up here from the street though, and I thought I'd never be able to work this SB [signal box], but you just get on with it until it becomes second nature." 2018, Rail, issue 857, July 18-July 31, article on Severn Bridge Junction signal box at Shrewsbury
6. (India) To graduate from university.
   • He passed out of the Madras University in 1990.
7. (transitive) To end (a round) by having passes as the first four bids.
8. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pass, out.
   • “You speak of terms,” she said. “These are mine. Stand aside and let me pass.” […] “So you accede to my terms?” she said. “I am to pass out?” 1882, James Jackson, Tom Terror, the Outlaw:

Forms

Coordinates

pass along · pass around

Relateds

near-syncope (faint) · syncope (faint)

Synonyms

give out · hand out

Translations (25)

ru потеря́ть созна́ние (to faint — see also faint) · de aus den Latschen kippen (to faint — see also faint) · fi pyörtyä (to faint — see also faint) · uk роздава́ти (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · es distribuir (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · uk розда́ти (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · pt distribuir (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · fi jaella (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · fr distribuer (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · de ohnmächtig werden (to faint — see also faint) · ru отключи́ться (to faint — see also faint) · ru раздава́ть (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · ru отключа́ться (to faint — see also faint) · fi jakaa (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · ota بایلمق (to faint — see also faint) · ru разда́ть (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · pl rozdać (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · ru теря́ть созна́ние (to faint — see also faint) · apc غاب على الواعي (to faint — see also faint) · pl rozdawać (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · de ausgeben (to distribute — see also distribute, give out, hand out) · es graduarse (to graduate — see also graduate) · fi valmistua (to graduate — see also graduate) · yue 結業 /结业 (to graduate — see also graduate) · pl stracić przytomność (to faint — see also faint)