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Webster 1913 Edition

Passage

Pas′sage

,
Noun.
[F.
passage
. See
Pass
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
The act of passing; transit from one place to another; movement from point to point; a going by, over, across, or through;
as, the
passage
of a man or a carriage; the
passage
of a ship or a bird; the
passage
of light; the
passage
of fluids through the pores or channels of the body.
What! are my doors opposed against my
passage
!
Shakespeare
2.
Transit by means of conveyance; journey, as by water, carriage, car, or the like; travel; right, liberty, or means, of passing; conveyance.
The ship in which he had taken
passage
.
Macaulay.
3.
Price paid for the liberty to pass; fare;
as, to pay one’s
passage
.
4.
Removal from life; decease; departure; death.
[R.]
“Endure thy mortal passage.”
Milton.
When he is fit and season'd for his
passage
.
Shakespeare
5.
Way; road; path; channel or course through or by which one passes; way of exit or entrance; way of access or transit. Hence, a common avenue to various apartments in a building; a hall; a corridor.
And with his pointed dart
Explores the nearest
passage
to his heart.
Dryden.
The Persian army had advanced into the . . .
passages
of Cilicia.
South.
6.
A continuous course, process, or progress; a connected or continuous series;
as, the
passage
of time
.
The conduct and
passage
of affairs.
Sir J. Davies.
The
passage
and whole carriage of this action.
Shakespeare
7.
A separate part of a course, process, or series; an occurrence; an incident; an act or deed.
“In thy passages of life.”
Shak.
The . . . almost incredible
passage
of their unbelief.
South.
8.
A particular portion constituting a part of something continuous; esp., a portion of a book, speech, or musical composition; a paragraph; a clause.
How commentators each dark
passage
shun.
Young.
9.
Reception; currency.
[Obs.]
Sir K. Digby.
10.
A pass or en encounter;
as, a
passage
at arms
.
No
passages
of love
Betwixt us twain henceforward evermore.
Tennyson.
11.
A movement or an evacuation of the bowels.
12.
In parliamentary proceedings:
(a)
The course of a proposition (bill, resolution, etc.) through the several stages of consideration and action;
as, during its
passage
through Congress the bill was amended in both Houses
.
(b)
The advancement of a bill or other proposition from one stage to another by an affirmative vote; esp., the final affirmative action of the body upon a proposition; hence, adoption; enactment;
as, the
passage
of the bill to its third reading was delayed
.
“The passage of the Stamp Act.”
D. Hosack.
The final question was then put upon its
passage
.
Cushing.
In passage
,
in passing; cursorily.
“These . . . have been studied but in passage.”
Bacon.
–
Middle passage
,
Northeast passage
,
Northwest passage
.
See under
Middle
,
Northeast
, etc.
–
Of passage
,
passing from one place, region, or climate, to another; migratory; – said especially of birds.
“Birds of passage.”
Longfellow.
–
Passage hawk
,
a hawk taken on its passage or migration.
–
Passage money
,
money paid for conveyance of a passenger, – usually for carrying passengers by water.
Syn. – Vestibule; hall; corridor. See
Vestibule
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Passage

P`ASSAGE

, n.
1.
The act of passing or moving by land or water, or through the air or other substance; as the passage of a man or a carriage; the passage of a ship or a fowl; the passage of light or a meteor; the passage of fluids through the pores of the body, or from the glands. Clouds intercept the passage of solar rays.
2.
The time of passing from one place to another. What passage had you? We had a passage of twenty five days to Havre de Grace, and of thirty eight days from England.
3.
Road; way; avenue; a place where men or things may pass or be conveyed.
And with his pointed dart,
Explores the nearest passage to this heart.
4.
Entrance or exit.
What! are my doors opposed against my passage?
5.
Right of passing; as, to engage a passage on board a ship bound to India.
6.
Occurrence; event; incident; that which happens; as a remarkable passage in the life of Newton. [See the Spanish verb, supra. This sense is obsolescent.]
7.
A passing away; decay. [Little used.]
8.
Intellectual admittance; mental reception.
Among whom I expect this treatise will have a fairer passage than among those deeply imbued with other principles.
9.
Manner of being conducted; management.
On consideration of the conduct and passage of affairs in former times--
10. Part of a book or writing; a single clause, place or part of indefinite extent.
How commentators each dark passage shun.
11. Enactment; the act of carrying through all the regular forms necessary to give validity; as the passage of a law, or of a bill into a law, by a legislative body.
Bird of passage, a fowl that passes at certain seasons from one climate to another, as in autumn to the south to avoid the winter's cold, and in spring to the north for breeding. Hence the phrase is sometimes applied to a man who has no fixed residence.

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