Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Passage

Passage , noun

[French 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.
What! are my doors opposed against my passage! — Shakespeare
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. — Macaulay
3.
Price paid for the liberty to pass; fare; as, to pay one's passage.
4.
Removal from life; decease; departure; death. [Rare]
Endure thy mortal passage. — Milton
When he is fit and season'd for his passage. — Shakespeare
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. — Dryden
The Persian army had advanced into the... passages of Cilicia. — South
6.
A continuous course, process, or progress; a connected or continuous series; as, the passage of time.
The conduct and passage of affairs. — Sir J. Davies
The passage and whole carriage of this action. — Shakespeare
7.
A separate part of a course, process, or series; an occurrence; an incident; an act or deed.
In thy passages of life. — Shakespeare
The... almost incredible passage of their unbelief. — South
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. — Young
9.
Reception; currency. [Obsolete] — Sir K. Digby
10.
A pass or en encounter; as, a passage at arms.
No passages of love Betwixt us twain henceforward evermore. — Tennyson
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. — D. Hosack
The final question was then put upon its passage. — Cushing
Collocations (5)
In passage , in passing; cursorily. These... have been studied but in passage. — Bacon
Middle passage or Northeast passage or 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.