PAST COMPLAINING, phr. (old).See quot.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. The man is PAST COMPLAINING, saying of a person murdered for resisting the robbers.
TO BE PAST DYING OF A FIRST CHILD, verb. phr. (old).To have had a bastard. RAY (1767).
[COLLOQUIALISMS are: PAST BELIEVING = incredible; PAST PRAYING FOR = hopeless; PAST-MASTER (or -MISTRESS) = an adept; PAST WHOOPING = undeniable, beyond question; PAST-PRICE = invaluable. See also MARK OF MOUTH.]
1602. J. DAVIES, Mirum in Modum [GROSART, Works, i. 6].
The Soule is such a precious thing | |
As costs the price of PAST-PRICE deerest bloud. |