tick past

English

Verb

tick past (third-person singular simple present ticks past, present participle ticking past, simple past and past participle ticked past)

1. (intransitive or transitive, of events, time or time-keeping devices) To continue over time.

   The years just continue to tick past.

   The bad election results kept coming in, ticking past me one by one on the bottom of the television screen.

   • 2008, Nick Cave (lyrics and music), “Albert Goes West”, in Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:

     Me, I ain't going anywhere / Just sit and watch the sun come up, I like it here / Oh yeah, I watch the people go ticking past