Found 1 items, similar to northwest passage.
English → English (gcide) Definition: Northwest passage Northwest \North`west"\, a. 1. Pertaining to, or in the direction of, the point between the north and west; being in the northwest; toward the northwest, or coming from the northwest; as, the northwest coast. [1913 Webster] 2. Coming from the northwest; as, a northwest wind. [1913 Webster] Northwest passage, a passage or communication by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along the north coast of America, long sought for by navigators. [1913 Webster] Passage \Pas"sage\, n. [F. passage. See Pass, v. i.] 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. [1913 Webster] What! are my doors opposed against my passage! --Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. Transit by means of conveyance; journey, as by water, carriage, car, or the like; travel; right, liberty, or means, of passing; conveyance. [1913 Webster] The ship in which he had taken passage. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 3. Price paid for the liberty to pass; fare; as, to pay one's passage. [1913 Webster] 4. Removal from life; decease; departure; death. [R.] “Endure thy mortal passage.” --Milton. [1913 Webster] When he is fit and season'd for his passage. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] And with his pointed dart Explores the nearest passage to his heart. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] The Persian army had advanced into the . . . passages of Cilicia. --South. [1913 Webster] 6. A continuous course, process, or progress; a connected or continuous series; as, the passage of time. [1913 Webster] The conduct and passage of affairs. --Sir J. Davies. [1913 Webster] The passage and whole carriage of this action. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 7. A separate part of a course, process, or series; an occurrence; an incident; an act or deed. “In thy passages of life.” --Shak. [1913 Webster] The . . . almost incredible passage of their unbelief. --South. [1913 Webster] 8. A particular portion constituting a part of something continuous; esp., a portion of a book, speech, or musical composition; a paragraph; a clause. [1913 Webster] How commentators each dark passage shun. --Young. [1913 Webster] 9. Reception; currency. [Obs.] --Sir K. Digby. [1913 Webster] 10. A pass or en encounter; as, a passage at arms. [1913 Webster] No passages of love Betwixt us twain henceforward evermore. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster] 11. A movement or an evacuation of the bowels. [1913 Webster] 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.” --D. Hosack. [1913 Webster] The final question was then put upon its passage. --Cushing. [1913 Webster] In passage, in passing; cursorily. “These . . . have been studied but in passage.” --Bacon. 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.” --Longfellow. 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. [1913 Webster] Syn: Vestibule; hall; corridor. See Vestibule. [1913 Webster]