thing of the past
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Something that no longer exists or is done
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Một thứ đã không còn tồn tại hoặc không được thực hiện
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: an object from a previous time
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Horse-drawn carriages are a thing of the past
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “thing of the past” mean?
Something that no longer exists or is done Literally: an object from a previous time
Is “thing of the past” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.