pass the time
Verb
Meaning
pass the time (third-person singular simple present passes the time, present participle passing the time, simple past and past participle passed the time)
To occupy oneself for a period of time.
Since the train was late, we passed the time looking at our fellow passengers and making up stories about them.
Synonyms
Examples
If man knew how women pass the time when they are alone, they'd never marry.
Do you remember you shot a seagull? A man came by chance, saw it and destroyed it, just to pass the time.
Weasels - and stoats - and foxes - and so on. They're all right in a way - I'm very good friends with them - pass the time of day when we meet, and all that - but they break out sometimes, there's no denying it, and then - well, you can't really trust them, and that's the fact.
Every village has its simpleton, and if one does not exist they invent one to pass the time.
I do not want to pass the time. I want to grab hold of it and leave my mark upon the world.
We have an hour before we have to leave," Cray said. "So I thought I might tell you a little about myself. I thought it might pass the time." "I'm not really all that interested," Alex said.