Passage n. 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!"
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."
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." "When he is fit and season'd for his passage."
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." "The Persian army had advanced into the... passages of Cilicia."
6.A continuous course, process, or progress; a connected or continuous series; as, the passage of time. "The conduct and passage of affairs." "The passage and whole carriage of this action."
7.A separate part of a course, process, or series; an occurrence; an incident; an act or deed. "In thy passages of life." "The... almost incredible passage of their unbelief."
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."
9.Reception; currency. (Obs.)
10.A pass or en encounter; as, a passage at arms. "No passages of love Betwixt us twain henceforward evermore."
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." "The final question was then put upon its passage."
In passage, in passing; cursorily. "These... have been studied but in passage."
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."
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.
Synonyms: Vestibule; hall; corridor. See Vestibule.