Passing means moving by or going past something or someone. A car passing you on the highway goes around you and continues ahead. In school hallways, you're constantly passing other students as you walk to class. When you watch clouds passing overhead, you're seeing them move across the sky.

The word can also mean achieving the minimum score needed to succeed at something. When you get a passing grade on a test, you've done well enough to move forward. A passing score might not be perfect, but it shows you've learned what you needed to learn.

In sports, passing means throwing, kicking, or hitting a ball to a teammate. A quarterback passes the football downfield. Soccer players pass the ball back and forth to move it toward the goal. Good passing requires accuracy and timing so your teammate can receive the ball cleanly.

The word also describes something brief or temporary. A passing thought is one that crosses your mind quickly and disappears. A passing interest in dinosaurs might last a few weeks before you move on to something else. When something is mentioned in passing, it comes up briefly in conversation without being the main topic.

Finally, passing can refer to someone's death, though this is a gentler way of expressing it. People might say someone “passed away” or speak of their passing as a respectful way to acknowledge their death.