pass, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

pass n.

(US drugs) the delivery of a packet of illegal drugs.

1974

G. Radano Stories Cops Only Tell Each Other 31: My partner and I race for the subway entrance. If we get there when the pass is made we can grab the two of them.

In phrases

get a pass (v.)

(US) to escape punishment.

2024

C. Stella Joey Piss Pot 8: You make the call and whoever it was you were fucking gets a pass.

give a pass (v.)

to reject, to ignore; to allow evasion.

1977		(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 46: So he gives the John Wayne information a pass and he and half his command get wiped out.
1986		R. Campbell In La-La Land We Trust (1999) 101: You mean like getting the cops to give me a pass?
2000		Lehr & O’Neill Black Mass 39: [T]he state police had believed that Connor was guilty of the murders but had given him a pass anyway .
2021		J. McWhorter Woke Racism 167: Brooks was giving black thought a pass. This is not progressive thinking, it is unintended racism.

make a pass (v.) (also throw a pass) [note Asbury, Sucker’s Progress (1938) 16: An extraordinary number of the terms, technical and otherwise, which were employed by Faro players [...] have passed into the language [...] Making a pass—Putting the two parts of a pack of cards back as they were before the cut] (orig. US)

1. to attempt to harm or attack.

1909		L.W. Payne Jr ‘Word-List From East Alabama’ in DN III:v 348: make a pass at, v. To attempt, attempt to strike.
1928		F. Willard ‘Moon Mullins’ [comic strip] You low little !?!!! You will make a pass at me will you? You — —.
1935		D. Lamson We Who Are About to Die 187: ‘Why, you lyin’ so-an’-so,’ he says [...] An’ he makes a pass at me.
1947		I. Shulman Amboy Dukes 57: If you make a pass at me I’m going to slug you.
1973		G.V. Higgins Digger’s Game (1981) 20: You never made a pass at me.

2. to approach with amorous intentions.

1815		T. Whittell ‘The Indifferent Lovers’s Wedding’ Poetical Works 109: A little, finical, foppish blade / At her heart was pushing and making passes.
1929		D. Parker ‘You Were Perfectly Fine’ in Parker (1943) 183: Was I making a pass at Elinor?
1938		D. Runyon ‘Lonely Heart’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 483: Finally he makes a pass at one of the nurses.
1943		W.R. Burnett Nobody Lives for Ever 43: ‘Did I ever throw a pass at you?’ ‘Only with your eyes, Mr. Doyle. I stayed at arm’s length’.
1949		I. Shulman Cry Tough! 139: Do I make passes at you?
1952		J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 33: Now don’t tell me she’s never made a pass at you.
1959		J. Osborne World of Paul Slickey Act II: And before I make a pass / I’ll tell her that the sun shines out of her face.
1963		G. Lambert Inside Daisy Clover (1966) 64: This actor made a terrific pass at me.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 124: Every assistant has been young and smooth, but he never makes a pass.
1977		K. Gilbert Living Black 129: Do the white blokes make passes at you?
1984		Benjamin & Pearl Limericks Down Under 68: A lecher in old Dirranbandi / Made a pass at any girl handy.
1989		R. Dahl Rhyme Stew (1990) 13: These females from the upper-classes / Spend their lives in making passes.
1999		J. Poller Reach 2: I sensed that Anthony would get on with my father [...] until, that is, apoplectic on pink gin, he made a pass at me.

3. to approach, to go near; to assess.

1946		I. Bolton Do I Wake or Sleep in N.Y. Mosaic (1999) 4: He was making a pass at her hand.
1959		in E. Cray Erotic Muse (1992) 206: He laid her down upon the grass, / Lifted her dress above her ass; / He grabbed his prick and made a pass / At the fuck-hole of Kathusalem.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 104: Watch your wine [...] he’s just made a pass at it.
2024		C. Stella Joey Piss Pot 228: Today he was making a pass at the address of the old fat guy.

put a pass (v.)

see pass v. (1)