OLD

(FROM THE PAST) [adjective] [before noun] -er, -est - from a period in the past; former (EARLIER)I saw my old English teacher last time I went home.He's bought me a smart new camera to replace my old one.That dreadful grey building is/was my old school.You don't mind me keeping letters from my old boyfriend, do you?In my old job I wasn't paid for days that I had to take off sick.A language which is described as Old comes from an early stage in its development.Old FrenchOld English(UK and ANZ) An old boy/girl of a particular school is a man/woman who went to school there as a child.She is one of the school's most famous old girls.We're having an old-boy reunion next Saturday.(UK and ANZ) The old-boy network is the system by which men who went to the same school, esp. an expensive school, use their influence to help each other, esp. in their work, all through their adult lives.He only got that job because he's part of the old-boy network.(US) An old-boy network is also a group of men who have known each other for a long time and who are important and have influence, esp. in politics and business.The old country is the country that a person or a person's family originally came from.I think I'll stay in Australia for the rest of my life - I've no plans to go back to the old country.(esp. disapproving) Something that is old-fashioned is not modern, and belongs to or is typical of a time in the past.old-fashioned clothes/ideas/words(esp. disapproving) If a person is old-fashioned they behave or think in a way that is not modern and is more typical of a time in the past.She's a bit old-fashioned in her outlook.An old flame is a person that you loved or had a sexual relationship with in the past.The old guard of an organization or society are those people who oppose change and whose beliefs and ideas belong to a period in the past.Radical reform was, of course, opposed by the old guard.Old money is a type of money that is no longer used.The equivalent of twenty-five pence in old money is five shillings. See also old money at old (EXISTED MANY YEARS).If someone is described as of the old school, their ideas are traditional and old-fashioned.The old school tie is used to refer to the system by which people, esp. men, who went to the same public school (= expensive school) use their influence to help each other, esp. in their work, through all their adult lives.The Old Testament is one of the two main parts of the Christian Bible. It records the history of the Jewish people before the birth of Christ.Compare the New Testament at new (DIFFERENT).(esp. US) Old-time things are things from a long time ago.old-time dancingThe church organ is similar to the ones used in old-time movie theaters.The bar only opened recently but it has a real old-time atmosphere.If you do something for old times' sake, you do it in order to remember a happy time that you had in the past.We should all meet up again - just for old times' sake.(approving) Old-world means belonging to or typical of a period in the past.Much of the town centre retains its old-world charm, with buildings dating from Shakespeare's day.He greeted us with old-world courtesy.Compare olde worlde.The Old World is Asia, Africa and Europe.