View synonyms for donkey's years

donkey's years

noun

, Informal.

a very long time; eons.

donkey's years

noun

informal.
a long time

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Word History and Origins

Origin of donkey's years¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; probably originally donkey('s) ears, as rhyming slang for years, with years replacing ears once the rhyming origin was forgotten

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Idioms and Phrases

A long time, as in I haven't seen her in donkey's years . This expression punningly alludes to the considerable length of the animal's ears. [Early 1900s]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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