for‧ty /ˈfɔːti $ ˈfɔːrti/ number
[Language: Old English; Origin: feowertig, from feower 'four']

1. the number 40

2. the forties (also the '40s, the 1940s) [plural] the years from 1940 to 1949:
The place was built as a casino in the forties.
the early/mid/late forties
He spent several years in Paris in the late forties.

3. be in your forties to be aged between 40 and 49
early/mid/late forties
The woman was probably in her mid forties.

4. in the forties if the temperature is in the forties, it is between 40 degrees and 49 degrees
in the low/mid/high forties
The temperature was up in the high forties.
—fortieth adjective:
her fortieth birthday

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲