AGE | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of age in English agenoun uk /eɪdʒ/ us /eɪdʒ/

age noun (TIME SPENT ALIVE)

Add to word list Add to word list A1 [ C or U ] the period of time someone has been alive or something has existed: Do you know the age of that building? What age (= how old) is your brother?about someone's age I'd guess she's about my age (= she is about as old as I am).years of age She was 74 years of age when she wrote her first novel.at the age of He left home at the age of 16.at someone's age I was married with four children at your age.feel your age I'm really beginning to feel my age (= feel old).look your age She's starting to look her age. His girlfriend's twice his age (= twice as old as he is).  act your age! said to someone to tell them to stop behaving like someone who is much younger: Boys, act your age, please! See more  the age of consent the age at which someone is considered by the law to be old enough to agree to have sex with someone: Each state's laws determine the age of consent. See more

• 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.

Describing age & birthdays

• advanced
• age group
• age limit
• aged
• baby boomer
• eighties
• going on
• grown up
• how old
• knock
• leaper
• ripe
• septuagenarian
• seventies
• sexagenarian
• sixties
• something
• teens
• twenties
• twinkle

See more results »

age noun (PERIOD)

B1 [ C ] a particular period in time: the Victorian age the modern age the nuclear age

• 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

Periods of time - general words

• all day
• at/in one sitting idiom
• atomic age
• clock
• day
• digital age
• indefinite period
• information age
• intervening period
• intervening years
• leeway
• ping
• sitting
• slot
• span
• spree
• standing
• stint
• subperiod
• time frame

See more results »

age noun (LONG TIME)

 ages B1 [ plural ] informal (also mainly UK an age [ S ]) a very long time: take ages It takes ages to cook. See more

age noun (BEING OLD)

C2 [ U ] the fact of being or getting older: with age Her back was bent with age. This cheese/wine improves with age. Her temper hasn't improved with age!

• 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.

Describing age & birthdays

• advanced
• age group
• age limit
• aged
• baby boomer
• eighties
• going on
• grown up
• how old
• knock
• leaper
• ripe
• septuagenarian
• seventies
• sexagenarian
• sixties
• something
• teens
• twenties
• twinkle

See more results »

See also

of a certain age

Grammar

AgeWe use age as a noun to refer to how many years someone has lived: …

Idiom

come of age ageverb [ I or T ] uk /eɪdʒ/ us /eɪdʒ/ present participle UK ageing or US aging | past tense and past participle aged If someone ages or something ages them, they look older: She's aged since the last time we met. to develop in flavour or leave something to do this: The brandy is aged in oak for ten years.

• 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.

The elderly

• advanced
• advancing
• aged
• ageism
• ageist
• geriatrician
• geriatrics
• gerontological
• gerontologist
• gerontology
• golden oldie
• infirmity
• old people's home
• old-timer
• oldie
• pension fund
• pensioner
• the gray dollar
• the grey market
• the grey pound

See more results »

Phrasal verb

age out -agesuffix uk / -ɪdʒ/ us / -ɪdʒ/

-age suffix (ACTION)

used to form nouns that refer to the action or result of something: blockage shrinkage wastage All breakages must be paid for. Outcomes and consequences

• adverse effect
• adversely affected
• aftereffect
• aftermath
• as a consequence of something/doing something
• end result
• exercise in something
• fallout
• fallout from something
• first fruit
• implication
• ironic
• irony
• payoff
• put something to bed idiom
• ramification
• repercussion
• resultant
• resultantly
• the fruits of someone's labour

See more results »

-age suffix (STATE)

used to form nouns that refer to a state or condition: bondage marriage shortage Conditions and characteristics

• -ance
• -ancy
• ability
• adverse conditions
• ambience
• appearance
• DNA
• good/bad karma idiom
• have it in you idiom
• hood
• humanity
• presentation
• respect
• shape
• someone's/something's former self
• trait
• trappings
• unaffiliated
• undercurrent
• vibe

See more results »

-age suffix (PLACE)

used to form nouns that are names of places: orphanage vicarage Names and titles

• A.N. Other
• aka
• alias
• appellation
• appellative
• forename
• form of address
• generic name
• given name
• good name
• patronymic
• pen name
• pet name
• place name
• pseudonym
• trademark
• unchristened
• under the name of idiom
• unidentified
• unimaginatively named

See more results » (Definition of age from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

age | American Dictionary

agenoun us /eɪdʒ/

age noun (TIME SPENT ALIVE)

Add to word list Add to word list the length of time someone has been alive or something has existed: [ C ] At age 24 he won a starring role in his first movie. [ U ] She was 74 years of age when she wrote her first novel. The program is aimed at viewers in the 18-to-30 age group.

age noun (PERIOD)

[ C ] a particular period in time: the modern/industrial/Victorian age ageverb [ I/T ] us /eɪdʒ/

age verb [I/T] (TIME SPENT ALIVE)

to become or appear old, or to cause someone to appear old: [ I ] She’s aged a lot since the last time we met.

Note:

• usually said about a person

To age food or drink is to give it time to become ripe or develop a full flavor: [ T ] The cheese is aged for three to six months. (Definition of age from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of age

age A group of 16 children were studied between 11 and 79 months of age. From the Cambridge English Corpus The majority (76%) of the social workers were female, whose average age was 43 years. From the Cambridge English Corpus The corresponding age difference for women was 2-3 years. From the Cambridge English Corpus The children were aged 4;10 at the beginning of the study. From the Cambridge English Corpus Two-thirds were aged 40-49 years, 30 per cent were 50-59 years, and only 5 per cent aged 60 years or more. From the Cambridge English Corpus The average age of the two groups was not significantly different. From the Cambridge English Corpus Correction was done between 3 months and 7 years of age. From the Cambridge English Corpus Their age varied between 4 days and 3 years. From the Cambridge English Corpus The age of the supracrustal rocks is unknown. From the Cambridge English Corpus They were adults from twenty-one to thirty-five years of age. From the Cambridge English Corpus The age at onset was between 44 and 73 years. From the Cambridge English Corpus There was a difference of about a year in average age. From the Cambridge English Corpus The majority of women (55-4 %) were aged 17-25 years. From the Cambridge English Corpus By 4 years of age the weight distribution of these children was relatively poor. From the Cambridge English Corpus Deductions about orientation and orientation response of infants aged 1^% to years. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of age These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with age

age

These are words often used in combination with age.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

advanced ageThe propensity to move declines steadily with advanced age. From the Cambridge English Corpus   age categoryThere were no statistically significant interactions between study group and age category or rank. From the Cambridge English Corpus   age cohortThe age cohort-wise regressions offer some further interesting insights. From the Cambridge English Corpus   These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with age What is the pronunciation of age, -age?

Translations of age

in Chinese (Traditional) 活著的時間, 年齡，年紀, 存在時間… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 活着的时间, 年龄，年纪, 存在时间… See more in Spanish edad, época, era… See more in Portuguese idade, era, época… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian वय, विशिष्ट कालावधी, युग… See more 年, 年齢, 年代… See more yaş, çağ, yaşlı… See more âge [masculine], époque [feminine], vieillir… See more edat, (fer) envellir… See more leeftijd, tijdperk, ouderdom… See more யாரோ ஒருவர் உயிருடன் இருந்த காலம் அல்லது ஏதோ ஒன்று இருந்த காலம், ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட காலம், இருப்பது அல்லது வயதாகிறது என்ற உண்மை… See more आयु, उम्र, काल… See more ઉમર, આયુષ્ય., યુગ… See more alder, alderstrin, levealder… See more ålder, tid, tidevarv… See more umur, zaman, usia… See more das Alter, das Zeitalter, die Ewigkeit(en)… See more alder [masculine], tidsalder [masculine], tid [masculine]… See more عمر, پرانی یا پرانا, زمانہ… See more вік, літа, епоха… See more ఆయుష్షు, వయస్సు, ప్రాయం… See more বয়স, যে সময়কাল কেউ বেঁচে রয়েছে বা কিছু বিদ্যমান রয়েছে, যুগ… See more věk, stáří, epocha… See more umur, zaman, usia… See more อายุ, ยุค, ความมีอายุ… See more tuổi, thời đại, chín ngấu… See more wiek, epoka, doba… See more 나이, 시대, 오래됨… See more età, era, vecchiaia… See more Need a translator?

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agarose BETA agate agave agave nectar age age bracket age discrimination age group age limit {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of age

• Age of Exploration
• golden age
• middle age
• New Age
• age-old
• de-age
• ice age

See all meanings

• age out phrasal verb

See all phrasal verb meanings

• act your age! phrase
• show your age phrase
• advanced age phrase
• come of age idiom
• an age, at ages phrase
• act your age idiom
• grand old age idiom

See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

fraternize

UK /ˈfræt.ə.naɪz/ US /ˈfræt̬.ɚ.naɪz/

to meet someone socially, especially someone who belongs to an opposing army or team, or has a different social position

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• English   
  • Noun 
    • age (TIME SPENT ALIVE)
    • act your age!
    • the age of consent
    • age (PERIOD)
    • age (LONG TIME)
    • ages
    • age (BEING OLD)
  Verb
  • Suffix 
    • -age (ACTION)
    • -age (STATE)
    • -age (PLACE)
• American   
  • Noun 
    • age (TIME SPENT ALIVE)
    • age (PERIOD)
  • Verb 
    • age (TIME SPENT ALIVE)
• Examples
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