Passive congestion(Med.), congestion due to obstruction to the return of the blood from the affected part. — Passive iron(Chem.), iron which has been subjected to the action of heat, of strong nitric acid, chlorine, etc. It is then not easily acted upon by acids. — Passive movement(Med.), a movement of a part, in order to exercise it, made without the assistance of the muscles which ordinarily move the part. — Passive obedience obedience or submission of the subject or citizen as a duty in all cases to the existing government. — Passive prayer, among mystic divines, a suspension of the activity of the soul or intellectual faculties, the soul remaining quiet, and yielding only to the impulses of grace. — Passive verb, or Passive voice(Gram.), a verb, or form of a verb, which expresses the effect of the action of some agent; as, in Latin, doceor, I am taught; in English, she is loved; the picture is admired by all; he is assailed by slander.

Syn. — Inactive; inert; quiescent; unresisting; unopposing; suffering; enduring; submissive; patient.

Passively
(Pas"sive*ly), adv.

1. In a passive manner; inertly; unresistingly.

2. As a passive verb; in the passive voice.

Passiveness
(Pas"sive*ness), n. The quality or state of being passive; unresisting submission.

To be an effect implies passiveness, or the being subject to the power and action of its cause.
J. Edwards.

Passivity
(Pas*siv"i*ty) n. [Cf. F. passivité.]

1. Passiveness; — opposed to activity. Jer. Taylor.

2. (Physics) The tendency of a body to remain in a given state, either of motion or rest, till disturbed by another body; inertia. Cheyne.

3. (Chem.) The quality or condition of any substance which has no inclination to chemical activity; inactivity.

Pass-key
(Pass"-key`) n. A key for opening more locks than one; a master key.

Passless
(Pass"less), a. Having no pass; impassable. Cowley.

Passman
(Pass"man) n.; pl. Passmen One who passes for a degree, without honors. See Classman, 2. [Eng. Univ.]

Passover
(Pass"o`ver) n. [Pass + over. See Pasch.] (Jewish Antiq.) (a) A feast of the Jews, instituted to commemorate the sparing of the Hebrews in Egypt, when God, smiting the firstborn of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites which were marked with the blood of a lamb. (b) The sacrifice offered at the feast of the passover; the paschal lamb. Ex. xii.

Pass-parole
(Pass`-pa*role") n. [F. passe- parole.] (Mil.) An order passed from front to rear by word of mouth.

2. Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission.

The best virtue, passive fortitude.
Massinger.

3. (Chem.) Inactive; inert; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive.

4. (Med.) Designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues.
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