The Phrasal Verb 'Pass Out' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Sep 15, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 10
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'pass out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website all about English phrasal verbs. Each week, I take a different phrasal verb and look at how it is used by native speakers, with a focus on the different meanings that it has and the expressions and idioms that it is used in.
The phrasal verb 'pass out' is used both in British and American English and has three distinct meanings that we will look at in this post. In addition to the phrasal verb meanings, there is also the noun 'pass-out' that we will also cover. So, without further ado, let's get started....
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to jump to each one)
The Basics: Key information and the individual words 'pass' and 'out'
Meaning 1: To lose consciousness
Meaning 2: To distribute
Meaning 3: To graduate from military school
Bonus: The noun 'pass-out'
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THE BASICS
PASS OUT: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Medium |
Number of meanings | 3 |
Past tense forms | Passed out / Passed out |
Separable? | Sometimes |
As is customary, let's start by taking a look at the components words that make up our phrasal verb of chose as these often give valuable clues to its meanings.
The verb 'to pass' is a regular English verb and will likely be familiar to speakers of other European languages as it has cognate words in many of these languages. It is a very diverse verb in English and has a lot of different meanings, but one of the key concepts behind it is movement, especially the ideas of moving past something or leaving something behind you.
The prepositional particle 'out' is, like the majority of English prepositions, one with a large number of applications within the language. The general idea here though is that it is used to talk about a position on, or a movement towards, the exterior of something. Among its many other applications however, it is worth noting in the context of 'pass out' that 'out' can be used as an adverb to mean 'unconscious' or 'sleeping'.
Ok, so now we have covered those, let's take a look at the meaning of 'pass out'...
MEANING 1: To lose consciousness
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To faint, to lose consciousness, to black out, to zonk out |
Separable? | No |
In the previous section I gave you a little clue regarding the first meaning of 'pass out', which is 'to lose consciousness' or 'to faint'. In my very humble opinion, I would say that this is definitely the most widespread and commonly used of the three meanings that we will cover in this post.
As outlined above, we use 'pass out' to describe when we temporarily lose consciousness, which can be caused by medical conditions, emotional stress or responses to changes in our physical surroundings. In addition to this, we also use 'pass out' to describe someone who quickly falls into a very deep and often unexpected sleep and this is often used by native speakers to describe people who fall asleep in this way due to having drunk a lot of alcohol.
On a grammatical level, this meaning of 'pass out' is intransitive and does not take a direct object. In terms of formality, it is relatively informal compared to the official medical terms that a doctor would use, however it is absolutely fine to use in most situations. If you wish to specify the cause of you passing out, then the additional preposition 'from' is required.
Helen was in so much pain that she passed out whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
If someone passes out, it is important to act very quickly and seek medical advice.
John drank so much rum at the party that he passed out on a chair in the corner.
Roger passed out from illness and exhaustion.
MEANING 2: To distribute
CEFR Language Level | B1 - Intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To distribute, to hand out |
Separable? | Yes |
The second meaning of 'pass out' is 'to distribute something to a group of people', normally by hand.
This usage is derived from the meaning of the verb 'to pass' where one thing is transferred from one person to another (e.g. the salt and pepper at a dinner table), with the prepositional particle 'out' adding the extra meaning of 'to a group of people'. As such, we don't use 'pass out' to describe passing an object to just one person, it's always to a group.
The typical environment in which this application of 'pass out' is used is a classroom or an office environment where documents are often distributed to groups of people, but the usage is not limited to these and it can be used to describe when something is given to a group of people by hand.
Unlike the previous example, this usage does require a direct object and is therefore transitive. The direct object can either go between 'pass' and 'out' or after them without changing the meaning.
Lisa, can you please pass the test papers out to the rest of the class.
On my birthday last year I walked around my office and passed out chocolate treats to all of my colleagues.
The aid workers passed out water supplies to the victims of the disaster.
MEANING 3: To graduate from military school
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Rare |
Where is it used? | British English |
Potential synonyms | To graduate |
Separable? | No |
The third and final meaning of 'pass out' is a primarily British meaning and means 'to graduate from military school after finishing the initial training'. The idea here is that the serviceman or servicewoman in question is now qualified and is no longer a trainee and therefore takes part in a ceremony to mark this occasion.
In addition to using 'pass out' for graduation from military school, we also use it to describe graduation from training in the police force. Moreover, the graduation ceremony for both these newly qualified police officers and military recruits is called a passing out parade. The noun 'passing-out' also exists in English to describe the act of graduating from police training or a military college.
Similar to the first meaning, this usage of 'pass out' is also intransitive and does not require a direct object.
A total of 1000 new servicemen and women have passed out of the Royal Military Training Academy so far this year.
My son is due to pass out of his police training school next week, so my wife and I are going to his passing-out parade to celebrate with him.
THE NOUN 'PASS-OUT'
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, the noun pass-out also exists in English. It describes a type of ticket or other form of authorisation which allows a person to leave somewhere and re-enter it at a later point of time. This is often used in theatres and other performances where the doors tend to be closed for the show and movement in and out is restricted, however it can be used in a work environment too if you need to leave your place of work for a period of time e.g. for a doctor's appointment.
If you wish to leave whilst the performance is ongoing, you will need to obtain a pass-out from a member of staff.
My boss wouldn't give me a pass-out last week to go and see my child's school play.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'pass out'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'pass out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
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