/ eɪdʒ; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C , U ] the number of years that a person has lived or a thing has existed :
He left school at the age of 18.
She needs more friends of her own age.
children from 5–10 years of age
Young people of all ages go there to meet.
When I was your age I was already married.
He started playing the piano at an early age .
All ages admitted.
Children over the age of 12 must pay full fare.
She was beginning to feel her age (= feel that she was getting old) .
He was tall for his age (= taller than you would expect, considering his age) .
There's a big age gap between them (= a big difference in their ages).
ways of calculating the age of the earth
2.
[ C , U ] a particular period of a person's life :
middle age
15 is an awkward age.
He died of old age.
—see also the third age
3.
[ C ] a particular period of history :
the nuclear age
the age of the computer
—see also Bronze Age , Iron Age , New Age , Stone Age
4.
[ U ] the state of being old :
Wine improves with age .
The jacket was showing signs of age.
the wisdom that comes with age
5.
ages [ pl. ] (also an age [ sing. ]) ( informal , especially BrE ) a very long time :
I waited for ages .
It'll probably take ages to find a parking space.
Carlos left ages ago .
It's been an age since we've seen them.
6.
[ C ] ( geology ) a length of time which is a division of an epoch
•
IDIOMS
- be / act your age
- come of age
- look your age
- under age
—more at advanced , certain , day , feel verb , grand adjective , ripe
■ verb ( ag·ing , aged , aged
HELP NOTE : In BrE the present participle can also be spelled age·ing .
)
1.
[ v ] to become older :
As he aged, his memory got worse.
The population is aging (= more people are living longer) .
2.
[ vn ] to make sb/sth look, feel or seem older :
The shock has aged her.
Exposure to the sun ages the skin.
3.
to develop in flavour over a period of time; to allow sth to do this
SYN mature :
[ v ]
The cheese is left to age for at least a year.
[ vn ]
The wine is aged in oak casks.
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French , based on Latin aetas , aetat- , from aevum age, era.