age
[noun]
Synonyms:
- time, date, day(s), duration, epoch, era, generation, lifetime, period, span
- old age, advancing years, decline (of life), majority, maturity, senescence, senility, seniority
[verb]
Synonyms:
- grow old, decline, deteriorate, mature, mellow, ripen

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Antonyms: youth
Contrasted words: flash, instant, minute, moment, second, split second, trice
Related Idioms: month of Sundays, right smart spell

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English Thesaurus: period, time, age, era, epoch, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. age¹ S1 W1 /eɪdʒ/ noun
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Old French; Origin: aage, from Vulgar Latin aetaticum, from Latin aetas, from aevum 'lifetime, age']

1. HOW OLD [uncountable and countable] the number of years someone has lived or something has existed ⇒ old:
Francis is the same age as me.
Experts disagree over the age of the drawings.
Dad retired at the age of 56.
at age 5/18 etc
In Britain, schooling starts at age 5.
4/15 etc years of age (=4, 15 etc years old)
She was just over 16 years of age.
at my/your etc age (=when you are as old as me etc)
At my age, it’s quite difficult getting up the stairs.
over/under the age of 5/18 etc
people over the age of 65
for his/her etc age (=compared with other people of the same age)
She’s tall for her age, isn’t she?

REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually use the expression how old …? rather than using the noun age:
■ What age is your brother? ➔ How old is your brother?
■ | They asked me my age. ➔ They asked me how old I was.

2. LEGAL AGE [uncountable] the age when you are legally old enough to do something:
What’s the minimum age for getting a driver’s license?
You’re not allowed to buy alcohol. You’re under age (=too young by law).
The normal retirement age is 65.

3. PERIOD OF LIFE [uncountable and countable] one of the particular periods of someone’s life:
When you get to old age, everything seems to take longer.
The early teens are often a difficult age.

4. BEING OLD [uncountable] the state of being old ⇒ youth
with age
High blood pressure increases with age.
Some of the furniture was showing signs of age.

5. PERIOD OF HISTORY [countable usually singular] a particular period of history Synonym : era:
We are living in the age of technology.
Molecular biology is pushing medicine into a new age. ⇒ in this day and age at day(6)

6. ages [plural] (also an age) especially British English informal a long time:
Simon! I haven’t seen you for ages.
That recipe takes ages.
it’s ages since/before/until etc something
It’s ages since we’ve played that game.

7. come of age
a) to reach the age when you are legally considered to be a responsible adult
b) if something comes of age, it reaches a stage of development at which people accept it as being important, valuable etc:
During this period the movies really came of age as an art form.
⇒ New Age¹, New Age²

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. age² verb (present participle aging or ageing)

1. [intransitive and transitive] to start looking older or to make someone or something look older:
He was worried to see how much she’d aged.
The experience had aged him in advance of his years.

2. [intransitive] to become older:
The buildings are ageing, and some are unsafe.

3. [intransitive and transitive] to improve and develop in taste over a period of time, or to allow food or alcohol to do this Synonym : mature:
Cheddar cheese ages well.
The whisky is aged for at least ten years.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

age
noun
I. how old sb/sth is
ADJ. early, young He was sent away to school at an early age.
advanced, great, old He was still active even at the advanced age of 87. White hair is a sign of great age. She dreaded old age.
middle a pleasant woman in early middle age
childbearing, pensionable, retirement, school, school-leaving, voting, working children of school age
VERB + AGE attain, get to, live to, reach When you get to my age you get a different perspective on life. She lived to the age of 75.
feel, look She was beginning to feel her age (= feel that she was getting old).
lower, raise The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 years.
AGE + NOUN group, range | limit
PREP. at a/the ~ At your age, I had already started work.
between the ~s children between the ages of five and eleven
by the ~ He could read by the age of four.
for sb's ~ He's quite a big boy for his age.
over the ~ Twelve million people in Great Britain are over retirement age.
under ~ It is illegal to sell alcohol to children who are under age (= not legally old enough).
under the ~ It is illegal to sell alcohol to children under the age of 18.
with ~ A lot of wines improve with age.
~ of He left school at the age of 18.
PHRASES the age of consent The general age of consent for sexual activity is 16.
sb's own age She needs a friend of her own age to play with.
years of age He's 20 years of age.
 ⇒ See OLD AGE

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

age
II. period of history
ADJ. another, different This exquisite little hotel seemed to belong to a different age.
Elizabethan, Victorian, etc. | Bronze, Ice, Stone | computer, modern, nuclear, etc. | golden the golden age of cinema
PREP. during the ~ He lived during the Elizabethan age.
in a/the ~ In an age when few women became politicians, her career was unusual.
through the ~s an exhibition of spinning through the ages
~ of the age of the wireless communication
PHRASES in this day and age (= in the period we now live in) Why dress so formally in this day and age?

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

age
III. ages/an age: a very long time
VERB + AGE spend, take It took an age for us all to get on the boat.
PHRASES absolutely ages I've been sitting here for absolutely ages.
ages ago Carlos left ages ago.
for ages We had to wait for ages!

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

age
verb
ADV. considerably, greatly, a lot, really The shock has aged her considerably. My mother has really aged since she became ill.
a little He had put on weight and aged a little.
rapidly, suddenly a rapidly ageing population
prematurely | well This wine has not aged well.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

age

old age (=the time when you are old)
the problems of old age
middle age (=between about 40 and 60)
He was in late middle age.
a great/advanced age (=a very old age)
My aunt died at a great age.
Kirby is not alone in wanting to run his own business at an advanced age.
a difficult/awkward age (=used mainly about the time when people are teenagers)
13 – 16 is often a difficult age.
retirement age
The risk of experiencing poverty is much greater for those over retirement age.
school age
Children should start doing homework as they approach high school age.
school-leaving age British English
The government is proposing to raise the minimum school-leaving age.
the legal age
In the US, the legal age for drinking alcohol is 21.
the minimum age
16 years is the minimum age to drive a car.
the voting age
plans to bring down the voting age from 18 to 16
the marrying age
She was 28 – long past the usual marrying age.
from an early/young age
She’d been playing the piano from a very early age.
at an early/young age
Kids can start learning a second language at a young age.
somebody (of) your own age
He needs to find people his own age.
of childbearing age (=at the age when a woman can have children)
It is against the law to refuse to employ a woman of childbearing age because she may become pregnant.
of working age
55 percent of the people are of working age.
the age of consent (=when you are legally allowed to marry or have sex)
At 15, the girl was under the age of consent.
an age group/bracket/range
Men in the 50–65 age group are most at risk from heart disease.
The school takes in children from the seven to eleven age range.
an age limit
There’s no upper age limit for drivers.
age discrimination
laws against age discrimination in the workplace
get to/reach/live to a particular age
One in three children die before they reach the age of 5.
The number of people living to to the age of 80 has doubled in the last fifty years.
lower/raise the age (=at which something can be done)
The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.
look/feel your age (=look or feel as old as you really are)
The singer is 46, but she doesn’t look her age at all.
I keep getting aches in my legs and I’m starting to feel my age.
act your age (=behave in the way that a person of your age should behave)
It’s time he started acting his age.
ask/say your age (=ask or say how old you are)
It’s rude to ask a woman her age.
the Ice Age (=one of the long periods of time, thousands of years ago, when ice covered many northern countries)
the Stone Age (=the very early time in human history, when only stone was used for making tools, weapons etc)
the Bronze Age (=the period of time, between about 6,000 and 4,000 years ago, when bronze was used for making tools, weapons etc)
the Iron Age (=the period of time, about 3,000 years ago, when iron was first used for making tools, weapons etc)
the Middle Ages (=the period in European history between about 1100 and 1500 AD)
the Dark Ages (=the period in European history from 476 AD to about 1000 AD)
the Elizabethan age (=the period 1558–1603 when Elizabeth I was queen of England)
the Victorian age (=the period 1837–1901 when Victoria was Queen of England)
the industrial age (=the time during the late 18th and early 19th centuries when goods or substances such as coal and steel were first produced in large quantities using machines)
the modern age (=from the 20th century until the present)
the technical and scientific achievements that ushered in the modern age
the space age (=since vehicles were able to travel in space)
the nuclear age (=since nuclear energy was used for weapons or energy)
the computer age (=since computers became widely used)
the modern computer age
the information age (=since the Internet has become widely used)
Business has had to evolve in the information age.
a golden age (=a time of great happiness or success)
a television show from the golden age of British comedy
a new age (=a time when things are better than they were in the past)
Supporters see the coming season as the dawning of a new age for the club.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

age
noun
1.
BAD: I'm at the age of 22.
GOOD: I'm 22 (years old).

Usage Note:
be + NUMBER (+ years old ): 'David is almost twelve (years old).'

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2.
BAD: His age is about fifty-five years old.
GOOD: He's about fifty-five (years old).

Usage Note:
Do not use age and years old together. The usual way of mentioning someone's age is simply be + NUMBER: 'She'll be sixteen next August.'

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3.
BAD: Soon you'll be of my age.
GOOD: Soon you'll be my age.
BAD: Although we are at the same age, we have different interests.
GOOD: Although we are the same age, we have different interests.

Usage Note:
be my/your etc age : 'When I was your age, I was already going out to work.'
be the same age (as sb) : 'Most of my friends are the same age as me.'

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4.
BAD: In the age of 15, you are allowed to drive a car.
GOOD: At the age of 15, you are allowed to drive a car.

Usage Note:
Phrases with age as their main word usually begin with at (NOT in ): 'Keeping fit is very important at your age.' 'Some girls get married at a very young age.' 'She is at the age when she wants to go to school.'

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5.
BAD: A child in the age of seven or eight needs a little push.
GOOD: A child of seven or eight needs a little push.
BAD: People in my age spend a lot of time in pubs.
GOOD: People of my age spend a lot of time in pubs.

Usage Note:
noun + of + NUMBER: 'They have a little girl of three and a boy of five.'
noun + of + my/your etc age : 'He is very clever for a boy of his age.' 'A girl of her age needs someone to play with.'
Note the alternative with aged : 'A child aged seven or eight needs a little push.'

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6.
BAD: They have two children in the age of 8 and 12 years.
GOOD: They have two children aged 8 and 12.
GOOD: They have two children, 8 and 12 years of age.

Usage Note:
When you mention two ages after a noun, use either of the following:
aged + NUMBER + and + NUMBER: 'two boys aged 12 and 14'
NUMBER + and + NUMBER + years of age : 'two boys, 12 and 14 years of age'.

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7.
BAD: These books are for children at the age of from 8 to 12 years.
GOOD: These books are for children aged 8 to 12.
GOOD: These books are for children between the ages of 8 and 12.

Usage Note:
When you mention an age range after a noun, use either aged + NUMBER + to + NUMBER: 'suitable for children aged seven to eleven' or between the ages of + NUMBER + and + NUMBER: 'suitable for children between the ages of seven and eleven'.

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8.
See MIDDLE AGE (middle age)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

period a particular time in history, especially one studied as a subject:
the late Victorian period
the interwar period
During that period many people moved from the countryside to the towns.
time a period of years, months, days etc:
The 1960s were a time of great social change.
the biggest earthquake in modern times
Verdun was an important city in Roman times.
age a long period, especially one that represents a particular stage in the development of civilization or technology:
the industrial age
We are now in the age of the Internet.
the Stone Age (=when people used tools made of stone)
era a long period that has a particular character or that is marked by particular events:
We live in an era of breathtaking change.
the post-war era
De Gaulle’s death marked the end of an era.
epoch /ˈiːpɒk $ ˈepək/ formal means the same as era, but sounds more formal and important:
We are now entering a new epoch in human history.
the colonial epoch
It was the end of an epoch.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

age
eɪdʒ
See: act one's age or be one's age , dog's age or coon's age , legal age or lawful age , of age , over age , under age

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

AGE
Aerospace Ground Equipment

[TahlilGaran] Acronyms and Abbreviations Dictionary ▲