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Definition of "past participle" []

  • A verb form indicating past or completed action or time that is used as a verbal adjective in phrases such as baked beans and finished work and with auxiliaries to form the passive voice or perfect and pluperfect tenses in constructions such as She had baked the beans and The work was finished. Also called perfect participle. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "past participle" in a sentence
  • "This suffix is added to the past participle stem. ” isoun (fem.)."
  • "How will this past participle of a short verb, in future permutations, further transform its meaning and vivify our tongue?"