roll by

1. Lit. to pass by, rotating, as a wheel or a ball; to move past, rolling on wheels. The wheel of a car rolled by, all by itself. It must have come off a car somewhere down the road. The traffic rolled by relentlessly.

2. Fig. to move (past), as if rolling. The years rolled by, and soon the two people were old and gray. The clouds were rolling by, spreading patterns of light and dark across the land.