[Vocabulary] "Reach past" ?! What does that mean?!

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nininaz

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Capture.JPG
Hello All,
The attachment was snipped from Barron's Essential Words for IELTS book.
Now I want to know what is the meaning of 'Reach past' that is equivalent of extend ?!
Is the past 'preposition' of the reach?!And what does 'reach past' mean?!I can't find the meaning of 'reach past' from any dictionaries.


Lost of thanks :)
 

TheParser

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***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Nininaz:

!. I believe that you are correct: "past" is a preposition in some sentences:

I reached past Mona [my hand extended beyond her] and took her glass of soda. She said, "That's mine!" I replied: "Too bad! I'm very thirsty!"

2. Here is a secret: whenever you want to see how authors use the English language, go to the "books" section of Google and type in the words that interest you. So I went there and typed in "reached past." There were many examples of how the two words are used. Here are just two examples:

a. "He stalked [approached] her, then to her complete surprise, reached past her and grabbed the brush."

-- Wild at Heart (2011) by Susan Fox.

b. "The three entered the kitchen and Aleksandr reached past Abigail to snag [get] the last of the cookies ahead of Jonas."

-- Oceans of Fire (2005) by Christine Feehan.



James
 

Roman55

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I am not a teacher.

In these examples people are reaching past other people. They could be reaching across/up/down or anywhere else.

In your little screen capture which shows 'reach past' as being a definition of 'extend' it is more like 'to go beyond' or 'to stretch out'.
 
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