passage

IPA/ˈpæsɪdʒ/
KK[pˈæsədʒ]IPA/ˈpæsɪdʒ/

passage — noun

  • passagesingular
  • passagesplural

1. a long, narrow space such as a hallway or covered path that lets people move fro

1.nounB2
Definition

a long, narrow space such as a hallway or covered path that lets people move from one room, area, or building to another.

Example

A dark passage led from the kitchen to the stone cellar.

passage + lead from ... to ...

Visitors waited in the hospital passage outside Dr. Wu's office.

Common collocations
  • narrow passage
  • covered passage
  • stone passage
  • passage to the cellar
Synonyms
  • corridor

    the most common formal word for a building route with rooms off it

  • hallway

    common in everyday speech, especially in American English

  • walkway

    broader and often used for paths people walk along

Grammar Patterns

a passage from + place + to + place

a narrow / covered passage

Usage Note

Usually names a built route inside or between buildings. Distinguish from noun sense 5, which names the act of going through somewhere rather than the place you go through.

Common Mistakes

We walked along the pass to the kitchen.
We walked along the passage to the kitchen.
a pass is usually a mountain route or a ticket, not an indoor connecting way.

2. a short section taken from a book, speech, or piece of music.

2.nounB2
Definition

a short section taken from a book, speech, or piece of music.

Example

The violin passage near the end is hard to play cleanly.

music use: violin passage

Our teacher asked Mina to read the final passage aloud.

read a passage aloud

Common collocations
  • a passage from the novel
  • read the passage aloud
  • a violin passage
  • cut a passage
Synonyms
  • section

    a broad everyday word for one part of a larger work

  • excerpt

    often suggests a piece chosen and taken out for special attention

  • extract

    common in publishing and exams for a selected piece of text

Grammar Patterns

a passage from + book / speech

a violin / piano passage

Usage Note

Often followed by 'from' when you quote writing, and often modified by an instrument name in music. Distinguish from noun sense 3, which is about time going by, not a section of a work.

Common Mistakes

Read this sentence from the book' (when you mean a longer part).
Read this passage from the book.
'passage' is used for a section longer than a single sentence.

3. the steady going by of time, especially when its effects are noticed later.

3.nounC1
Definition

the steady going by of time, especially when its effects are noticed later.

Example

The passage of time softened her anger after the trial.

fixed phrase: the passage of time

Wrinkles showed the passage of years on Grandpa's face.

Common collocations
  • the passage of time
  • with the passage of time
  • the passage of years
  • the passage of months
Synonyms
  • passing

    the closest everyday alternative

  • flow

    more figurative and often more poetic

  • lapse

    more formal and often used for a period that has gone by

Grammar Patterns

the passage of time

with the passage of time

the passage of + years / months / weeks

Usage Note

Almost always appears in fixed phrases such as 'the passage of time' or 'with the passage of years'. More formal than simply saying 'time passed'.

Common Mistakes

Passage time made the house look older.
The passage of time made the house look older.
this sense usually appears in the fixed pattern 'the passage of time'.

4. a tube or open space in the body that carries air, food, liquid, or waste from o

4.noun
Definition

a tube or open space in the body that carries air, food, liquid, or waste from one part to another.

Example

Swelling in one nasal passage made it hard for Owen to breathe.

common anatomy phrase: nasal passage

The scan showed a narrow passage carrying food down to the stomach.

Common collocations
  • nasal passage
  • air passages
  • blocked passage
  • body passage
Synonyms
  • channel

    a broad word for a space something moves through

  • duct

    more technical and often used in medicine or biology

  • tube

    emphasizes the shape more than the function

Grammar Patterns

a nasal passage

air passages

Usage Note

Often modified by a body part or by what moves through it, as in 'nasal passage' or 'air passages'. Distinguish from sense 1, which is a route in a building or outside space.

5. movement through or past a place by people, vehicles, air, water, or other thing

5.nounC2
Definition

movement through or past a place by people, vehicles, air, water, or other things.

Example

Passage through the mountain tunnel stopped after the storm.

pattern: passage through + place

Free passage of air keeps the greenhouse cool in summer.

collocation: free passage of air

Common collocations
  • free passage
  • safe passage
  • passage through the tunnel
  • passage of air
  • passage of trucks
Synonyms
  • crossing

    often focuses on going from one side to the other

  • transit

    more formal and often used for movement through a system or area

  • flow

    best when something moves in a steady stream, such as air or water

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

passage through + place

passage of + people / vehicles / air / water

free / safe passage

Usage Note

Common with 'through', 'across', 'of', and 'for', especially about people, vehicles, air, light, or water moving past a point. Distinguish from noun senses 7 to 9, which name a journey or ticketed travel rather than movement through a place.

Common Mistakes

The passage to Taipei took two hours.
The trip to Taipei took two hours.
this sense is about moving through a place, not the whole journey to a destination.

6. the stage when a bill or similar measure is formally accepted, especially by a p

6.nounC1
Definition

the stage when a bill or similar measure is formally accepted, especially by a parliament, and becomes law.

Example

The bill's passage followed six hours of debate.

legislative use: passage of a bill

Crowds cheered outside after the passage of the climate law.

Common collocations
  • the passage of a bill
  • the passage of a law
  • secure passage
  • delay passage
Synonyms
  • approval

    broader and not limited to laws or parliaments

  • enactment

    formal legal term for making a law official

  • adoption

    often used for plans, policies, or formal measures

Antonyms
  • rejection

    a formal decision not to accept the measure

  • defeat

    used when a bill fails in a vote

Grammar Patterns

passage of + bill / law

secure passage

delay passage

Usage Note

Usually used about bills, laws, or other measures in government and legal reporting. Distinguish from noun sense 5, which is about movement through space, and noun sense 3, which is about time going by.

Common Mistakes

The passage discussed the tax bill yesterday.
Parliament passed the tax bill yesterday.
this noun means the bill's approval, not the discussion itself.

7. travel from one place to another, especially to get away from danger or trouble.

7.noun
Definition

travel from one place to another, especially to get away from danger or trouble.

Example

At night, smugglers arranged passage for families leaving the burning town.

arrange passage for + person

The charity found passage out of the valley before winter snow.

find passage out of + place

Common collocations
  • arrange passage
  • seek passage
  • passage out of the city
  • passage to safety
Synonyms
  • escape

    focuses more strongly on getting free from danger

  • evacuation

    more official and often organized by authorities

  • transport

    broader and can describe ordinary travel without danger

Grammar Patterns

arrange passage for + person

seek / find passage out of + place

Usage Note

Common after verbs like 'arrange', 'find', and 'seek', often with 'out of', 'from', or 'to'. Distinguish from noun sense 8, which names one particular journey, usually by sea.

8. a trip across the sea, usually made by ship between two ports or coasts.

8.noun
Definition

a trip across the sea, usually made by ship between two ports or coasts.

Example

The passage from Lisbon to Rio lasted nearly three weeks.

passage from ... to ...

Rough weather made our passage across the channel very slow.

passage across + sea

Common collocations
  • rough passage
  • long passage
  • passage across the channel
  • passage to New York
Synonyms
  • voyage

    the closest word and especially common for sea travel

  • crossing

    often used for one movement across water from one side to another

  • trip

    the broad everyday word without the sea emphasis

Grammar Patterns

passage from + place + to + place

passage across + sea / channel

Usage Note

Often followed by 'from ... to ...' or 'across ...'. Distinguish from noun sense 7, which focuses on escape, and from noun sense 5, which is the act of moving through somewhere.

9. in the phrase 'work your passage', a ship trip you earn by doing jobs on board i

9.noun
Definition

in the phrase 'work your passage', a ship trip you earn by doing jobs on board instead of buying a ticket.

Example

At eighteen, Noor worked her passage to Australia as a kitchen helper.

fixed phrase: work your passage

After losing his money, Tomas worked his passage on a cargo ship.

Common collocations
  • work your passage
  • work passage to Australia
  • earn passage by working
  • work passage home
Synonyms
  • voyage

    names the trip itself but does not include the idea of working for it

  • fare

    means the money paid for a journey, not the journey earned by work

  • berth

    can mean a place on a ship or a job on one, but not this exact arrangement

Grammar Patterns

work your passage

work your passage to + place

Usage Note

Almost always appears in the fixed phrase 'work your passage'. The subject is the traveler, and the work is done on the ship as payment for the trip.

Common Mistakes

She worked her ticket to Australia.
She worked her passage to Australia.
this fixed phrase means earning the sea trip by working on board.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For noun sense 1, 'passage' is a fairly neutral word for a narrow way that connects places, especially inside a building or between built areas. 'Corridor' is very close, but it more strongly suggests a formal route with rooms or doors along it. 'Hallway' is the everyday choice, especially in American English, and usually sounds less formal than 'passage'. 'Walkway' is broader and can be indoors or outdoors, so it does not always suggest walls or a covered link. 'Passage' can also feel a little more literary or architectural. You might say, 'A narrow passage led to the courtyard,' but in a school you would more naturally say, 'Students were running down the hallway.'

passage ↗corridor ↗hallway ↗walkway ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • allow passage
  • block passage
  • the passage of ...

Prepositions

Etymology

Late LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Passage came into English from Old French 'passage', built on the verb 'passer', meaning 'go by' or 'cross'. That French verb goes back to Late Latin 'passare', a form linked to the idea of stepping forward and moving on. Because of that history, the word first centered on movement and a way through, then widened to a sea journey, time going by, and later a section of writing or music that runs as one part of a larger whole.

First known use

13th century

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a Verb