- Home
- Idioms
- passage
passage
bird of passage
A person who remains unfixed to a certain location, relocating from one place to another. The economy has forced me to become a bird of passage, moving around the state to wherever I can find work.
rite of passage
An event or activity often performed or experienced as part of passing from one stage of life to another. Bar Mitzvah celebrations are a rite of passage as Jewish boys become men. Getting lost while trying to find their classrooms is kind of a rite of passage for freshmen at this school.
a rite of passage
an activity or ceremony that shows that someone has reached an important new stage in their life, especially the start of their adult life There's an element of danger to most adolescent rites of passage, whether they be driving, sex, alcohol or drugs.
bird of passage
A transient, one who is here today and gone tomorrow. For example, Mary moves nearly every year; she's a true bird of passage. This phrase transfers the literal meaning of a migrating bird to human behavior. [Second half of 1700s]