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Crossing vs Passing - What's the difference?

crossing | passing |

In lang=en terms the difference between crossing and passing

is that crossing is extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction while passing is the act of approving a bill etc.

As an adverb passing is

surpassingly, greatly.

crossing

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An intersection where roads, lines, or tracks cross
  • A place at which a river, railroad, or highway may be crossed
  • A voyage across a body of water
  • (architecture) The volume formed by the intersection of chancel, nave and transepts in a cruciform church; often with a tower or cupola over it
  • Movement into a crossed position.
  • * 1989 , Stephen N. Tchudi, ?Diana D. Mitchell, Explorations in the Teaching of English (page 270)
    • For example, experts in kinesics — body language — recognize that a person sends out hundreds of nonverbal signals — eyebrow twitches, frowns, leg crossings and uncrossings — every second while he or she is speaking and listening.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (rare) Extending or lying across; in a crosswise direction.

    • Verb

    (head)

    • References

    * * Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed., 1989.

    passing

    English

    Verb

    (head)

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • That passes away; ephemeral.
  • * 1814 , (Lord Byron), Lara , I.15:
    • And solace sought he none from priest nor leech, / And soon the same in movement and in speech / As heretofore he fill'd the passing hours
  • * 2010 , Marianne Kirby, The Guardian , 21 Sep 2010:
    • It might be possible to dismiss
  • dittowatch as just another passing internet fancy. After all, hashtags are ephemeral.
  • * Shakespeare
    • her passing deformity
  • * 1835 , (Washington Irving), The Crayon Miscellany :
    • It was by dint of passing strength, / That he moved the massy stone at length.
  • * 1847 , Robert Holmes, The Case of Ireland Stated :
    • That parliament was destined, in one short hour of convulsive strength, in one short hour of passing glory, to humble the pride and alarm the fears of England.
  • vague, cursory.
  • * 2011 , Stewart J Lawrence, The Guardian , 14 Jun 2011:
    • Ardent pro-lifer Rick Santorum made one passing reference to "authenticity" as a litmus test for a conservative candidate, but if he was obliquely referring to Romney (and he was), you could be excused for missing the dig.
  • going past - passing cars.

    • Adverb

    (-)
  • * 1813 , (Percy Bysshe Shelley), Queen Mab , I:
    • One, pale as yonder waning moon, / With lips of lurid blue; / The other, rosy as the morn / When throned on ocean's wave, / It blushes o'er the world: / Yet both so passing wonderful!
  • * 2010 , Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian , 30 Oct 2010:
    • ‘I find it passing strange that convicts understand honest folk, but honest folk don't understand convicts.’

    Usage notes

    * This use is sometimes misconstrued as meaning "vaguely" or "slightly" (perhaps by confusion with such phrases as "passing fancy", under Adjective, above), leading to formations such as "more than passing clever" etc.

    Noun

  • Death, dying; the end of something.
  • The fact of going past; a movement from one place to another or a change from one state to another.
  • * (Oliver Onions), The Story of Louie
    • And since he did not see Louie by the folding door, Louie knew that in his former passings and repassings he could not have seen her either.
  • (legal) The act of approving a bill etc.
  • (sports) The act of passing a ball etc. to another player.
  • A form of juggling where several people pass props between each other, usually clubs or rings.