passe-partout

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: passe-par=tout

CIDE DICTIONARY

passe-partout, n. [F., from passer to pass + partout everywhere.].

•  That by which one can pass anywhere; a safe-conduct.  Dryden.  [1913 Webster]
•  A master key; a latchkey.  [1913 Webster]
•  A light picture frame or mat of cardboard, wood, or the like, usually put between the picture and the glass, and sometimes serving for several pictures.  [1913 Webster]
•  A strip of adhesive paper or gummed tape used to mount a picture between a piece of glass and a backing.  [WordNet 1.5]
•  The method of mounting a picture between a piece of glass and a backing, using a passe-partout{4}.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

passe-partout, n.
1 a master-key.
2 a picture-frame (esp. for mounted photographs) consisting of two pieces of glass stuck together at the edges with adhesive tape.
3 adhesive tape or paper used for this.

Etymology

F, = passes everywhere

ROGET THESAURUS

passe-partout

Instrumentality

N instrumentality, aid, subservience, subserviency, mediation, intervention, medium, intermedium, vehicle, hand, agency, minister, handmaid, midwife, accoucheur, accoucheuse, obstetrician, gobetween, cat's-paw, stepping-stone, opener, key, master key, passkey, latchkey, open sesame, passport, passe-partout, safe-conduct, password, instrument, expedient, means, instrumental, useful, ministerial, subservient, mediatorial, intermediate, intervening, conducive, through, by, per, whereby, thereby, hereby, by the agency of, by dint of, by virtue of, in virtue of, through the medium of, along with, on the shoulders of, by means of, by the aid of, with the aid of, per fas et nefas, by fair means or foul, somehow, somehow or other, by hook or by crook.