agenoun
uk/eɪdʒ/us/eɪdʒ/age noun (TIME SPENT ALIVE)
A1 [ C or U ] the period of time someone has been alive or something has existed:
said to someone to tell them to stop behaving like someone who is much younger
the age at which someone is considered by the law to be old enough to agree to have sex with someone
More examples
- Prokofiev started composing at the age of five.
- She's getting very forgetful in her old age.
- He's very mature for his age.
- He became a professional athlete at the age of 16.
- Hilary's the same age as me.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Describing age & birthdays
- a ripe old age idiom
- age group
- age limit
- aged
- be knocking (on) 60, 70, etc. idiom
- gone
- junior
- nonagenarian
- octogenarian
- old
- on the right/wrong side of 40, 50, etc. idiom
- put years on sb idiom
- ripe
- senior
- spring chicken
- take years off sb idiom
- teens
- this side of sth idiom
- twenty-first
- when sb was a (mere) twinkle in their father's eye idiom
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
age noun (PERIOD)
B1 [ C ] a particular period in time:
More examples
- the age of imperialism
- It's time this company moved into the computer age.
- The neolithic period is sometimes called the new stone age.
- Service industries such as tourism have become more important in the post-industrial age.
- Rousseau, that great prophet of the modern age
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Periods of time - general words
- at/in one sitting idiom
- day
- duration
- free time
- gap
- interval
- length
- lifetime
- making
- me time
- period
- rest
- run
- shortly
- slot
- spasm
- spell
- stretch
- term
- timescale
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age noun (LONG TIME)
More examples
- It might take him ages but he'll do it eventually.
- It took me ages to pluck up the courage to ask for a promotion.
- I've been waiting in this queue for ages.
- It seems like ages since we last spoke.
- My sister always spends ages in the bathroom.
a very long time:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Long periods of time
- -athon
- aeon
- donkey
- donkey's years idiom
- eon
- epoch
- era
- eternity
- good
- month
- not in a month of Sundays idiom
- yonks
age noun (BEING OLD)
C2 [ U ] the fact of being or getting older:
More examples
- Sunbathing can prematurely age and wrinkle the skin.
- She's aged a lot since we last saw her.
- The death of his wife had aged him greatly.
- A great deal of research has examined the effects of ageing on our physical and mental capacities.
- The whisky is aged for at least two years in oak barrels.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Describing age & birthdays
- a ripe old age idiom
- age group
- age limit
- aged
- be knocking (on) 60, 70, etc. idiom
- gone
- junior
- nonagenarian
- octogenarian
- old
- on the right/wrong side of 40, 50, etc. idiom
- put years on sb idiom
- ripe
- senior
- spring chicken
- take years off sb idiom
- teens
- this side of sth idiom
- twenty-first
- when sb was a (mere) twinkle in their father's eye idiom
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Idiom(s)
ageverb [ I or T ]
uk/eɪdʒ/us/eɪdʒ/present participle UK ageing or US aging, past tense and past participle agedIf someone ages or something ages them, they look older:
to develop in flavour or leave something to do this:
More examples
- Sunbathing can prematurely age and wrinkle the skin.
- She's aged a lot since we last saw her.
- The death of his wife had aged him greatly.
- A great deal of research has examined the effects of ageing on our physical and mental capacities.
- The whisky is aged for at least two years in oak barrels.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
The elderly
- a ripe old age idiom
- aged
- ageism
- agism
- centenarian
- crock
- geriatrics
- gerontology
- infirmity
- octogenarian
- old
- old age
- old age pensioner
- old boy
- sb's declining years idiom
- senile
- senior citizen
- septuagenarian
- seventies
- sexagenarian
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