1. [n]  success in satisfying a test or requirement; "his future depended on his passing that test"; "he got a pass in introductory chemistry"
2. [n]  going by something that is moving in order to get in front of it; "she drove but well but her reckless passing of every car on the road frightened me"
3. [n]  a football play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate; "the coach sent in a passing play on third and long"
4. [n]  a bodily process of passing from one place or stage to another; "the passage of air from the lungs"; "the passing of flatus"
5. [n]  the end of something; "the passing of winter"
6. [n]  the motion of one object relative to another; "stellar passings can perturb the orbits of comets"
7. [n]  euphemistic expressions for death; "thousands mourned his passing"
8. [adv]  to an extreme degree or extent; "his eyesight was exceedingly defective"
9. [adj]  enduring a very short time; "the ephemeral joys of childhood"; "a passing fancy"; "youth's transient beauty"; "love is transitory but at is eternal"; "fugacious blossoms"

Passing
A light-skinned African American woman is married to a white man who is ignorant of her racial heritage. Her childhood friend, equally capable of passing, has chosen to live her life as a black woman and deny the existence of racism. A chance meeting forces both women to confront truths about themselves. First published in 1929, this novel has become a minor classic about the complexity of race relations in America.

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1. \Pass"ing\, n.
   The act of one who, or that which, passes; the act of going
   by or away.
   {Passing bell}, a tolling of a bell to announce that a soul
      is passing, or has passed, from its body (formerly done to
      invoke prayers for the dying); also, a tolling during the
      passing of a funeral procession to the grave, or during
      funeral ceremonies. --Sir W. Scott. --Longfellow.
   

2. \Pass"ing\, a.
   1. Relating to the act of passing or going; going by, beyond,
      through, or away; departing.
   2. Exceeding; surpassing, eminent. --Chaucer. ``Her passing
      deformity.'' --Shak.
   {Passing note} (Mus.), a character including a passing tone.
   {Passing tone} (Mus.), a tone introduced between two other
      tones, on an unaccented portion of a measure, for the sake
      of smoother melody, but forming no essential part of the
      harmony.
   

3. \Pass"ing\, adv.
   Exceedingly; excessively; surpassingly; as, passing fair;
   passing strange. ``You apprehend passing shrewdly.'' --Shak.