Definition

Verb: 1. To fail to notice, acknowledge, or greet someone: To not recognize or intentionally ignore a person, especially when encountering them. 2. To decline or refuse an opportunity, offer, or item: To choose not to take advantage of or accept something that is available.

Usage and Examples

• Failing to acknowledge someone:
  • I waved, but she passed me up without a glance.
  • He was so deep in thought that he passed up his old teacher on the street.
• Refusing or declining something:
  • You shouldn't pass up a chance to study abroad.
  • I had to pass up the dessert; I was too full.
  • They passed up the opportunity to invest early.

Advanced Usage

• The phrase often implies that the thing being declined might be valuable or beneficial, and that not taking it could be a mistake.
  • It's the deal of a lifetime—don't pass it up.
• It can be used in the imperative as advice or a warning.
  • "Pass up the fried food if you're watching your cholesterol."

Variants and Related Words

• Pass (verb): While "pass" has many meanings, in the context of moving by something without stopping, it relates to the first meaning of "pass up." (e.g., )
• Turn down (phrasal verb): A close synonym for the second meaning (to refuse an offer). (e.g., )

Synonyms

• Ignore, overlook, snub (for failing to acknowledge).
• Refuse, decline, reject, forgo, let slip, miss out on (for declining an opportunity).

Antonyms

• Acknowledge, greet, notice (for failing to acknowledge).
• Accept, seize, take, grab (for declining an opportunity).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Pass on: Can be a synonym for "pass up" when meaning to decline something. (e.g., ) It can also mean to transmit something or to die.
• Pass over: Can mean to ignore or fail to promote someone, or to skip something. (e.g., )

Verb

1. fail to acknowledge
   • he passed me up in the street
2. refuse to accept
   • He refused my offer of hospitality