youth S2 W2 /juːθ/ BrE AmE noun ( plural youths /juːðz $ juːðz, juːθs/)
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ young , ↑ youngster , ↑ youth , ↑ youthfulness ; adjective : ↑ young , ↑ youthful ; adverb : ↑ youthfully ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: geoguth ]
1 . [uncountable] the period of time when someone is young, especially the period when someone is a teenager ⇨ old age
in sb’s youth
Many of these people had used drugs in their youth.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say when I was young , rather than saying in my youth :
▪
They were friends when they were young.
2 . [countable] a teenage boy – used especially in newspapers to show disapproval:
a gang of youths
3 . [uncountable] young people in general
the youth of something
The youth of today are the pensioners of tomorrow.
4 . [uncountable] the quality or state of being young OPP age :
Despite his youth, he had travelled alone.
The cream will restore youth and vitality to your skin.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ spend your youth
She spent her youth in India.
▪ relive/recapture your youth (=do things you did when young, to try and experience youth again)
The band’s fans are clearly reliving their youth.
|
The sports car is an attempt to recapture his youth.
■ phrases
▪ a misspent youth (=spent doing things that were bad or not useful)
He is trying to make up for his misspent youth.
▪ your lost youth (=the time long ago when you were young)
He wept for his lost youth.
▪ the days/dreams/friends etc of sb’s youth
He had long ago forgotten the dreams of his youth.