age
noun OPAL W
/eɪdʒ/
/eɪdʒ/
Idioms - [countable, uncountable] the number of years that a person has lived or a thing has existed
- You're the same age as my brother.
- When I was your age I was already married.
- ways of calculating the age of the earth
- to reach retirement age
- at the age of… He left school at the age of 18.
- He started playing the piano at an early age.
- from the age of… Children can start school from the age of four.
- between the ages of… children between the ages of 5 and 10
- The children range in age from 5 to 10.
- The children's ages range from 5 to 10.
- under/over the age of… Children over the age of 12 must pay full fare.
- The film is unsuitable for children below 12 years of age.
- Young people of all ages go there to meet.
- She needs more friends of her own age.
- All ages admitted.
- for your age He was tall for his age (= taller than you would expect, considering his age).
- She was beginning to feel her age (= feel that she was getting old).
- The show appeals to all age ranges.
- There’s a big age gap between them (= a big difference in their ages).
Wordfinder- adolescent
- age
- elderly
- generation
- infant
- juvenile
- middle-aged
- minor
- teenage
- young
Extra Examples- At your age I had already started work.
- He could read by the age of four.
- He was still active even at the advanced age of 87.
- It is illegal to sell alcohol to children under the age of 18.
- She lived to the age of 75.
- The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 years.
- Twelve million people in Great Britain are over retirement age.
- When you get to my age you get a different perspective on life.
- children between the ages of five and eleven
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- early
- tender
- young
- …
- attain
- get to
- live to
- …
- group
- range
- limit
- …
- at a/the age
- between the ages
- by the age
- …
- the age of consent
- somebody’s own age
- years of age
- …
- ages[plural](also an age [singular])(informal, especially British English) a very long time
- It'll probably take ages to find a parking space.
- for ages I waited for ages.
- ages ago Carlos left ages ago.
- It's been an age since we've seen them.
Extra Examples- I've been sitting here for absolutely ages.
- It took an age for us all to get on the boat.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + ages/an age- spend
- take
- absolutely ages
- ages ago
- for ages
- …
- [uncountable, countable] a particular period of a person’s life
- in middle/old age
- 15 is an awkward age.
Collocations The ages of lifeThe ages of lifeChildhood/youthsee also middle age, old age, school age, third age- be born and raised/bred in Oxford; into a wealthy/middle-class family
- have a happy/an unhappy/a tough childhood
- grow up in a musical family/in an orphanage/on a farm
- be/grow up an only child (= with no brothers or sisters)
- reach/hit/enter/go through adolescence/puberty
- be in your teens/early twenties/mid-twenties/late twenties
- undergo/experience physical/psychological changes
- give in to/succumb to/resist peer pressure
- assert your independence/individuality
- leave school/university/home
- go out to work (at sixteen)
- get/find a job/partner
- be/get engaged/married
- have/get a wife/husband/mortgage/steady job
- settle down and have kids/children/a family
- begin/start/launch/build a career (in politics/science/the music industry)
- prove (to be)/represent/mark/reach a turning point in your life/career
- reach/be well into/settle into middle age
- have/suffer/go through a midlife crisis
- take/consider early retirement
- approach/announce/enjoy your retirement
- have/see/spend time with your grandchildren
- take up/pursue/develop a hobby
- get/receive/draw/collect/live on a pension
- approach/save for/die from old age
- live to a ripe old age
- reach the grand old age of 102/23 (often ironic)
- be/become/be getting/be going senile (often ironic)
- die (peacefully)/pass away in your sleep/after a brief illness
Extra ExamplesTopics Timeb2- She dreaded old age.
- a pleasant woman in early middle age
- children of school age
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- early
- tender
- young
- …
- attain
- get to
- live to
- …
- group
- range
- limit
- …
- at a/the age
- between the ages
- by the age
- …
- the age of consent
- somebody’s own age
- years of age
- …
- [countable] a particular period of history
- the nuclear age
- We live in an age of globalization.
- through the ages a study of fashion through the ages
Extra ExamplesTopics Timeb2, Historyb2- He lived during the Elizabethan age.
- In an age when few women became politicians, her career was unusual.
- This exquisite little hotel seemed to belong to a different age.
- an exhibition of Islamic art through the ages
- the age of wireless communication
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- another
- bygone
- different
- …
- during the… age
- in a/the age
- through the ages
- …
- in this day and age
- [uncountable] the state of being old
- The jacket was showing signs of age.
- White hair is a sign of great age.
- with age Wine improves with age.
- the wisdom that comes with age
- [countable] (geology) a length of time that is a division of an epoch
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French, based on Latin aetas, aetat-, from aevum ‘age, era’.
Idioms
be/act your age
- to behave in a way that is suitable for somebody of your age and not as though you were much younger
- Isn’t it time you started acting your age?
come of age
- when a person comes of age, they reach the age when they have an adult’s legal rights and responsibilities
- The money will go to the children when they come of age.
- if something comes of age, it reaches the stage of development at which people accept and value it
- It was the year that concern for the environment really came of age.
feel your age
- to realize that you are getting old, especially compared with people you are with who are younger than you
a/the grand old age (of…)
- a great age
- She finally learned to drive at the grand old age of 70.
in this day and age
- now, in the modern world
- Slavery continues to exist, even in this day and age.
- Why dress so formally in this day and age?
look your age
- to seem as old as you really are and not younger or older
- She doesn’t look her age; I thought she was ten years younger.
of advanced years | somebody’s advanced age
- used in polite expressions to describe somebody as ‘very old’
- He was a man of advanced years.
- (humorous) Even at my advanced age I still know how to enjoy myself!
of a certain age
- if you talk about a person being of a certain age, you mean that they are no longer young but not yet old
- The show appeals to an audience of a certain age.
a/the ripe old age (of…)
- an age that is considered to be very old
- He lived to the ripe old age of 91.
under age
- not legally old enough to do a particular thing
- It is illegal to sell cigarettes to children who are under age.