past tense
noun
: a verb tense expressing action or state in or as if in the past:
a
: a verb tense expressive of elapsed time (such as wrote in "on arriving I wrote a letter")
b
: a verb tense expressing action or state in progress or continuance or habitually done or customarily occurring at a past time (such as was writing in "I was writing while he dictated" or loved in "their sons loved fishing")
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web To quote Roosevelt, in the past tense, The only fear to fear was fear itself — fear of an economic meltdown. 
Laurence Kotlikoff, Forbes, 11 July 2022 This finding was later confirmed in 2015 using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which showed that water flows — not just flowed, past tense — on the this cold, desert planet. Meghan Willcoxon, Journal Sentinel, 1 July 2022 Both dishes are described in the past tense because Mi Kwabo’s small size and the fallout from Covid-19 forced it to close less than two years after opening. Vivian Song, Robb Report, 24 Apr. 2022 The past tense was unmistakable; the dream, at least in this current form, was over. Emily Yoshida, Vulture, 22 Dec. 2021 All of us are under such pressure to put our problems in the past tense. Katarina Avendano, Good Housekeeping, 29 Apr. 2022 My children talk about the pandemic in the past tense, something at least a year removed from daily life. Carrie Mckean, The Week, 25 Dec. 2021 For now, the discussion about moving to an endemic approach is limited to wealthy nations that can afford to speak about the worst of the pandemic in the past tense. Fox News, 20 Jan. 2022 The elder Robinson speaks of his son with obvious pride, flipping between present and past tense as if reluctant to believe that Daniel might be really gone. Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 14 Dec. 2021 See More
Laurence Kotlikoff, Forbes, 11 July 2022 This finding was later confirmed in 2015 using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which showed that water flows — not just flowed, past tense — on the this cold, desert planet. Meghan Willcoxon, Journal Sentinel, 1 July 2022 Both dishes are described in the past tense because Mi Kwabo’s small size and the fallout from Covid-19 forced it to close less than two years after opening. Vivian Song, Robb Report, 24 Apr. 2022 The past tense was unmistakable; the dream, at least in this current form, was over. Emily Yoshida, Vulture, 22 Dec. 2021 All of us are under such pressure to put our problems in the past tense. Katarina Avendano, Good Housekeeping, 29 Apr. 2022 My children talk about the pandemic in the past tense, something at least a year removed from daily life. Carrie Mckean, The Week, 25 Dec. 2021 For now, the discussion about moving to an endemic approach is limited to wealthy nations that can afford to speak about the worst of the pandemic in the past tense. Fox News, 20 Jan. 2022 The elder Robinson speaks of his son with obvious pride, flipping between present and past tense as if reluctant to believe that Daniel might be really gone. Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 14 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1729, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
past tense
noun
: a verb tense used to express an action or state having already taken place or existed
The past tense of the verb "run" is "ran."