age

[ eyj ]

/ eɪdʒ /

noun

the length of time during which a being or thing has existed; length of life or existence to the time spoken of or referred to: trees of unknown age; His age is 20 years.

a period of human life, measured by years from birth, usually marked by a certain stage or degree of mental or physical development and involving legal responsibility and capacity: the age of discretion; the age of consent; The state raised the drinking age from 18 to 21 years.

the particular period of life at which a person becomes naturally or conventionally qualified or disqualified for anything: He was over age for military duty.

one of the periods or stages of human life: a person of middle age.

advanced years; old age: His eyes were dim with age.

a particular period of history, as distinguished from others; a historical epoch: the age of Pericles; the Stone Age; the age of electronic communications.

the period of history contemporary with the span of an individual's life: He was the most famous architect of the age.

a generation or a series of generations: ages yet unborn.

a great length of time: I haven't seen you for an age. He's been gone for ages.

the average life expectancy of an individual or of the individuals of a class or species: The age of a horse is from 25 to 30 years.

Psychology. the level of mental, emotional, or educational development of a person, especially a child, as determined by various tests and based on a comparison of the individual's score with the average score for persons of the same chronological age.

Geology.

a period of the history of the earth distinguished by some special feature: the Ice Age.
a unit of geological time, shorter than an epoch, during which the rocks comprising a stage were formed.

any of the successive periods in human history divided, according to Hesiod, into the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages.

Cards.

Poker. the first player at the dealer's left.Compare edge(def 10a).
eldest hand.

verb (used without object), aged, ag·ing or age·ing.

to grow old: He is aging rapidly.

to mature, as wine, cheese, or wood: a heavy port that ages slowly.

verb (used with object), aged, ag·ing or age·ing.

to make old; cause to grow or seem old: Fear aged him overnight.

to bring to maturity or a state fit for use: to age wine.

to store (a permanent magnet, a capacitor, or other similar device) so that its electrical or magnetic characteristics become constant.

to expose (a dye or dyed cloth) to steam or humid air in order to fix the dye.

to stabilize the electrical properties of (a device) by passing current through it.

Idioms for age

of age, Law.

being any of several ages, usually 21 or 18, at which certain legal rights, as voting or marriage, are acquired.
being old enough for full legal rights and responsibilities.

Origin of age

1225–75; (noun) Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French aage, eage, equivalent to aé (< Latin aetātem accusative of ae(vi)tās age; aev(um) time, lifetime + -itās -ity) + -age -age; (v.) Middle English agen, derivative of the noun

SYNONYMS FOR age

16 ripen, mellow, develop.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR age ON THESAURUS.COM

synonym study for age

6. Age, epoch, era, period all refer to an extent of time. Age usually implies a considerable extent of time, especially one associated with a dominant personality, influence, characteristic, or institution: the age of chivalry. Epoch and era are often used interchangeably to refer to an extent of time characterized by changed conditions and new undertakings: an era ( or epoch ) of invention. epoch sometimes refers especially to the beginning of an era: the steam engine—an epoch in technology. A period may be long or short, but usually has a marked condition or feature: the glacial period; a period of expansion.

OTHER WORDS FROM age

in·ter·age, adjective pre·age, verb, pre·aged, pre·ag·ing. sub·age, noun un·ag·ing, adjective

Words nearby age

agaze, agaña, agba, agc, agcy., age, age allowance, age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / her infinite variety, age group, age hardening, age of anxiety

Example sentences from the Web for ages

Seventy-two adults between the ages of 18 and 50 are participating in the trial, led by the pediatrics department at Oxford.

The Race for the Ebola Vaccine |Abby Haglage |January 7, 2015 |DAILY BEAST
There are about 80 million Americans between the ages of 18-34 and next year they are expected to spend $2.45 trillion.

When Will We See a #Millennial Congress? |Linda Killian |December 26, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
According to a 2012 UNAIDS report, youth between the ages of 16 to 25 account for 40 percent of all new adult HIV infections.

The New Face of HIV Is Gay & Young |Adebisi Alimi |December 1, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Overall, young African Americans are killed by cops 4.5 times more often than people of other races and ages.

The 14 Teens Killed by Cops Since Michael Brown |Nina Strochlic |November 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Does Kelly Johana have a valid excuse for attending the party with over 60 youth between the ages of 13 and 20?

Colombian Beauty Queen Arrested for Running Child Prostitution Ring |Jason Batansky |October 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
A story which has in it so strong a dramatic element that it will attract readers of all ages and of either sex.

With the Swamp Fox |James Otis
Everything seemed plain to them; they were heirs of all the ages.

English Literature: Modern |G. H. Mair
One finds them in all ages, ever the same; that is to say, always according to all times.

Notre-Dame de Paris |Victor Hugo
There always have been minorities more or less powerful against Home Rule in all ages and places.

The Framework of Home Rule |Erskine Childers
The unity of type in past and present ages of certain great divisions thus undoubtedly receives the simplest explanation.

The Foundations of the Origin of Species |Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for ages

age

/ (eɪdʒ) /

noun

the period of time that a person, animal, or plant has lived or is expected to live the age of a tree; what age was he when he died?; the age of a horse is up to thirty years

the period of existence of an object, material, group, etc the age of this table is 200 years

a period or state of human lifehe should know better at his age; she had got beyond the giggly age
(as modifier)age group

the latter part of life

a period of history marked by some feature or characteristic; era
(capital when part of a name)the Middle Ages; the Space Age

generation the Edwardian age

geology palaeontol

a period of the earth's history distinguished by special characteristicsthe age of reptiles
the period during which a stage of rock strata is formed; a subdivision of an epoch

myth any of the successive periods in the legendary history of man, which were, according to Hesiod, the golden, silver, bronze, heroic, and iron ages

(often plural) informal a relatively long time she was an age washing her hair; I've been waiting ages

psychol the level in years that a person has reached in any area of development, such as mental or emotional, compared with the normal level for his chronological age See also achievement age, mental age

age before beauty (often said humorously when yielding precedence) older people take precedence over younger people

of age adult and legally responsible for one's actions (usually at 18 or, formerly, 21 years)

verb ages, ageing, aging or aged

to grow or make old or apparently old; become or cause to become old or aged

to begin to seem older to have aged a lot in the past year

brewing to mature or cause to mature

Word Origin for age

C13: via Old French from Vulgar Latin aetatīcum (unattested), from Latin aetās, ultimately from aevum lifetime; compare aeon

Medical definitions for ages

age

[ āj ]

n.

The length of time that one has existed; duration of life.

v.

To become old.

To manifest traits associated with old age.

Idioms and Phrases with ages

age

see act one's age; coon's age; golden age; in this day and age; of age; ripe old age; under age.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

age

noun

verb (used without object), aged, ag·ing or age·ing.

verb (used with object), aged, ag·ing or age·ing.

Idioms for age

Origin of age

SYNONYMS FOR age

synonym study for age

OTHER WORDS FROM age

Words nearby age

Example sentences from the Web for ages

British Dictionary definitions for ages

noun

verb ages, ageing, aging or aged

Word Origin for age

Medical definitions for ages

n.

v.

Idioms and Phrases with ages

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

age

noun

verb (used without object), aged, ag·ing or age·ing.

verb (used with object), aged, ag·ing or age·ing.

Idioms for age

Origin of age

SYNONYMS FOR age

synonym study for age

OTHER WORDS FROM age

Words nearby age

Words related to ages

Example sentences from the Web for ages

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for ages

noun

verb ages, ageing, aging or aged

Word Origin for age

Medical definitions for ages

n.

v.

Idioms and Phrases with ages

British Dictionary definitions for ages