Col vs. Pass — What's the Difference?

Formed by Glaciers or Erosion.

Navigable Mountain Route.

Navigational Marker.

Strategic Military Routes.

Lowest Point Between Peaks.

Formed by Various Processes.

Challenge for Travel.

Facilitates Travel and Transport.

Specific Mountain Pass.

Broader Than Cols.

In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks. It may also be called a gap.

To cause to move as part of a process

A low point along a ridge, as between two mountain peaks.

To move on or ahead; proceed

(geography) A dip on a mountain ridge between two peaks.

To extend; run

(meteorology) A pressure region between two anticyclones and two low-pressure regions.

To move by or in front of something

Clipping of column

To move past another vehicle

A short ridge connecting two higher elevations or mountains; the pass over such a ridge.

To gain passage despite obstacles

A pass between mountain peaks

To move past in time; elapse

To be transferred from one to another; circulate

(Sports) To transfer a ball or puck to a teammate.

To be communicated or exchanged between persons

To be transferred or conveyed to another by will or deed

To undergo transition from one condition, form, quality, or characteristic to another

To come to an end

To cease to exist; die. Often used with on

To happen; take place

To be allowed to happen without notice or challenge

Sports & Games To decline one's turn to bid, draw, bet, compete, or play.

To decline an offer

To undergo an examination or a trial with favorable results.

To serve as a barely acceptable substitute

To be accepted as a member of a group by denying one's own ancestry or background.

To be approved or adopted

To make a decision

To convey property to an heir or heirs

(Medicine) To be discharged from a bodily part

(Sports) To thrust or lunge in fencing.

To go by without stopping; proceed beyond or leave behind

To go across; go through

To allow to go by or elapse; spend

To go by without paying attention to; disregard or ignore

To fail to pay (a dividend).

To go beyond; surpass

To undergo (a trial or examination) with favorable results

To cause or allow to go through a trial, test, or examination successfully

To cause to move

To cause to move into a certain position

To cause to go by

To allow to cross a barrier

(Baseball) To walk (a batter).

To maneuver (the bull) by means of a pase in bullfighting.

To cause to be transferred from one to another; circulate

To hand over to someone else

(Sports) To transfer (a ball, for example) to a teammate, as by throwing.

To cause to be accepted; circulate fraudulently

(Law) To convey (property) to an heir or heirs

(Medicine) To discharge (a waste product, for example) from a bodily part.

(Medicine) To introduce (an instrument) into a bodily cavity.

To approve; adopt

To be sanctioned, ratified, or approved by

To pronounce; utter

The act of passing; passage.

A way, such as a narrow gap between mountains, that affords passage around, over, or through a barrier.

A permit, ticket, or authorization to come and go at will.

A free ticket entitling one to transportation or admission.

Written leave of absence from military duty.

A passing grade, especially when graded using a pass-fail grading system.

A sweep or run, as by an aircraft, over or toward an area or target.

A single complete cycle of operations, as by a machine or computer program.

A condition or situation, often critical in nature; a predicament

A motion of the hand or the waving of a wand

(Sports) A transfer of a ball or puck between teammates.

(Sports) A lunge or thrust in fencing.

(Baseball) A base on balls.

Sports & Games A refusal to bid, draw, bet, compete, or play.

(Games) A winning throw of the dice in craps.

A pase in bullfighting.

To change place.

(intransitive) To move or be moved from one place to another.

(transitive) To go past, by, over, or through; to proceed from one side to the other of; to move past.

(ditransitive) To cause to move or go; to send; to transfer from one person, place, or condition to another.

To take a turn with (a line, gasket, etc.), as around a sail in furling, and make secure.

(sport) To make various kinds of movement.

(intransitive) To go from one person to another.

(transitive) To put in circulation; to give currency to.

To cause to obtain entrance, admission, or conveyance.

To put through a sieve.

To change in state or status

(intransitive) To progress from one state to another; to advance.

(intransitive) To depart, to cease, to come to an end.

(intransitive) To die.

To achieve a successful outcome from.

To advance through all the steps or stages necessary to become valid or effective; to obtain the formal sanction of (a legislative body).

To be conveyed or transferred by will, deed, or other instrument of conveyance.

(transitive) To cause to advance by stages of progress; to carry on with success through an ordeal, examination, or action; specifically, to give legal or official sanction to; to ratify; to enact; to approve as valid and just.

To make a judgment on or upon a person or case.

(transitive) To utter; to pronounce; to pledge.

(intransitive) To change from one state to another (without the implication of progression).

To move through time.

To elapse, to be spent.

To spend.

(transitive) To go by without noticing; to omit attention to; to take no note of; to disregard.

(intransitive) To continue.

(intransitive) To proceed without hindrance or opposition.

(transitive) To live through; to have experience of; to undergo; to suffer.

(intransitive) To happen.

To be accepted.

To be tolerated as a substitute for something else, to "do".

To refrain from doing something.

(intransitive) To decline something that is offered or available.

(transitive) To reject; to pass up.

(intransitive) To decline or not attempt to answer a question.

(intransitive) In turn-based games, to decline to play in one's turn.

In euchre, to decline to make the trump.

To do or be better.

To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess.

(transitive) To transcend; to surpass; to excel; to exceed.

To take heed, to have an interest, to care.

An opening, road, or track, available for passing; especially, one through or over some dangerous or otherwise impracticable barrier such as a mountain range; a passageway; a defile; a ford.

A channel connecting a river or body of water to the sea, for example at the mouth (delta) of a river.

A single movement, especially of a hand, at, over, or along anything.

A single passage of a tool over something, or of something over a tool.

An attempt.

Success in an examination or similar test.

(fencing) A thrust or push; an attempt to stab or strike an adversary.

(figuratively) A thrust; a sally of wit.

(sports) The act of moving the ball or puck from one player to another.

(rail transport) A passing of two trains in the same direction on a single track, when one is put into a siding to let the other overtake it.

Permission or license to pass, or to go and come.

A document granting permission to pass or to go and come; a passport; a ticket permitting free transit or admission

(baseball) An intentional walk.

(sports) The act of overtaking; an overtaking manoeuvre.

The state of things; condition; predicament; impasse.

(obsolete) Estimation; character.

(cookery) The area in a restaurant kitchen where the finished dishes are passed from the chefs to the waiting staff.

An act of declining to play one's turn in a game, often by saying the word "pass".

(computing) A run through a document as part of a translation, compilation or reformatting process.

A password (especially one for a restricted-access website).

To go; to move; to proceed; to be moved or transferred from one point to another; to make a transit; - usually with a following adverb or adverbal phrase defining the kind or manner of motion; as, to pass on, by, out, in, etc.; to pass swiftly, directly, smoothly, etc.; to pass to the rear, under the yoke, over the bridge, across the field, beyond the border, etc.

To move or be transferred from one state or condition to another; to change possession, condition, or circumstances; to undergo transition; as, the business has passed into other hands.

To move beyond the range of the senses or of knowledge; to pass away; hence, to disappear; to vanish; to depart; specifically, to depart from life; to die.

To move or to come into being or under notice; to come and go in consciousness; hence, to take place; to occur; to happen; to come; to occur progressively or in succession; to be present transitorily.

To go by or glide by, as time; to elapse; to be spent; as, their vacation passed pleasantly.

To go from one person to another; hence, to be given and taken freely; as, clipped coin will not pass; to obtain general acceptance; to be held or regarded; to circulate; to be current; - followed by for before a word denoting value or estimation.

To advance through all the steps or stages necessary to validity or effectiveness; to be carried through a body that has power to sanction or reject; to receive legislative sanction; to be enacted; as, the resolution passed; the bill passed both houses of Congress.

To go through any inspection or test successfully; to be approved or accepted; as, he attempted the examination, but did not expect to pass.

To be suffered to go on; to be tolerated; hence, to continue; to live along.

To go unheeded or neglected; to proceed without hindrance or opposition; as, we let this act pass.

To go beyond bounds; to surpass; to be in excess.

To take heed; to care.

To go through the intestines.

To be conveyed or transferred by will, deed, or other instrument of conveyance; as, an estate passes by a certain clause in a deed.

To make a lunge or pass; to thrust.

To decline to play in one's turn; in euchre, to decline to make the trump.

To go by, beyond, over, through, or the like; to proceed from one side to the other of; as, to pass a house, a stream, a boundary, etc.

To go by without noticing; to omit attention to; to take no note of; to disregard.

To cause to move or go; to send; to transfer from one person, place, or condition to another; to transmit; to deliver; to hand; to make over; as, the waiter passed bisquit and cheese; the torch was passed from hand to hand.

To transcend; to surpass; to excel; to exceed.

To cause to pass the lips; to utter; to pronounce; hence, to promise; to pledge; as, to pass sentence.

To emit from the bowels; to evacuate.

To go successfully through, as an examination, trail, test, etc.; to obtain the formal sanction of, as a legislative body; as, he passed his examination; the bill passed the senate.

To cause to advance by stages of progress; to carry on with success through an ordeal, examination, or action; specifically, to give legal or official sanction to; to ratify; to enact; to approve as valid and just; as, he passed the bill through the committee; the senate passed the law.

To take a turn with (a line, gasket, etc.), as around a sail in furling, and make secure.

To make, as a thrust, punto, etc.

An opening, road, or track, available for passing; especially, one through or over some dangerous or otherwise impracticable barrier; a passageway; a defile; a ford; as, a mountain pass.

A thrust or push; an attempt to stab or strike an adversary.

A movement of the hand over or along anything; the manipulation of a mesmerist.

A single passage of a bar, rail, sheet, etc., between the rolls.

State of things; condition; predicament.

Permission or license to pass, or to go and come; a psssport; a ticket permitting free transit or admission; as, a railroad or theater pass; a military pass.

Fig.: a thrust; a sally of wit.

Estimation; character.

A part; a division.

In football, hockey, and other team sports, a transfer of the ball, puck, etc., to another player of one's own team, usually at some distance. In American football, the pass is through the air by an act of throwing the ball.

(baseball) an advance to first base by a batter who receives four balls;

(military) a written leave of absence;

(American football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate;

The location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks;

Any authorization to pass or go somewhere;

A document indicating permission to do something without restrictions;

A flight or run by an aircraft over a target;

A bad or difficult situation or state of affairs

A difficult juncture;

One complete cycle of operations (as by a computer);

You advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent;

A permit to enter or leave a military installation;

A complementary (free) ticket;

A usually brief attempt;

(sports) the act of throwing the ball to another member of your team;

Success in satisfying a test or requirement;

Go across or through;

Pass by;

Make laws, bills, etc. or bring into effect by legislation;

Pass by;

Place into the hands or custody of;

Stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope; run or extend between two points or beyond a certain point;

Travel past;

Come to pass;

Go unchallenged; be approved;

Pass (time) in a specific way;

Guide or pass over something;

Transmit information ;

Disappear gradually;

Go successfully through a test or a selection process;

Go beyond;

Accept or judge as acceptable;

Allow to go without comment or censure;

Transfer to another; of rights or property;

Pass into a specified state or condition;

Be identified, regarded, accepted, or mistaken for someone or something else; as by denying one's own ancestry or background;

Throw (a ball) to another player;

Be inherited by;

Cause to pass;

Grant authorization or clearance for;

Pass from physical life and lose all all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life;

Eliminate from the body;

Of advancing the ball by throwing it;

A pass is any navigable route through mountainous or hilly areas, not necessarily the lowest point between peaks.

Cols are primarily formed by the action of glaciers or erosion, creating a saddle-like depression.

A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks, often formed by glaciers or erosion.

Cols can be more challenging due to their narrower paths and steeper sides compared to broader passes.

Mountaineers use cols as navigational markers and routes between mountain peaks.

Yes, a col is a specific type of mountain pass characterized by its position and formation.

Yes, river erosion is one of the processes that can form passes through mountains or hills.

Not all mountains have cols; it depends on the landscape and geological history of the area.

Cols serve as important geographical markers and transition points on maps for hikers and mountaineers.

Mountain passes have been crucial for trade, migration, military campaigns, and cultural exchanges.

Passes are integral to road and rail networks, facilitating travel and commerce through difficult terrain.

The narrow paths and potentially steep approaches of cols can make them difficult for travelers to navigate.

While commonly between mountains or hills, passes can also refer to routes through other types of difficult terrain.

Geological processes like tectonic movements, erosion, and glacial activity shape the formation and characteristics of passes.

Passes have influenced exploration, the spread of cultures, military strategies, and the development of trade routes.