pass by
/pɑːs ˈbaɪ/
"pass-by" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pass by” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To travel past without stopping.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pass-by · pass by · English
pass by · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pass by |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /pɑːs ˈbaɪ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pass by” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pass by is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /pɑːs ˈbaɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
pass by has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is pass by, spelled P-A-S-S- -B-Y.
Definition
- 1To travel past without stopping.
- 2To travel past (something) without stopping; (figurative) to ignore, to disregard.
- 3To elapse.
- 4To drop by.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pass by appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I noticed my wife pass by with a bag of shopping.
I can hear them whisper as we pass by It's a bad sign, bad sign
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.