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old - 6 dictionary results

old

[ohld]

adjective, old⋅er, old⋅est or eld⋅er, eld⋅est, noun

Use old in a Sentence

–adjective

1.	far advanced in the years of one's or its life: an old man; an old horse; an old tree.

2.	of or pertaining to the latter part of the life or term of existence of a person or thing: old age.

3.	as if or appearing to be far advanced in years: Worry had made him old.

4.	having lived or existed for a specified time: a man 30 years old; a century-old organization.

5.	having lived or existed as specified with relation to younger or newer persons or things: Jim is our oldest boy.

6.	having been aged for a specified time: This whiskey is eight years old.

7.	having been aged for a comparatively long time: old brandy.

8.	long known or in use: the same old excuse.

9.	overfamiliar to the point of tedium: Some jokes get old fast.

10.	belonging to the past: the good old days.

11.	having been in existence since the distant past: a fine old family.

12.	no longer in general use: This typewriter is an old model.

13.	acquired, made, or in use by one prior to the acquisition, making, or use of something more recent: When the new house was built, we sold the old one.

14.	of, pertaining to, or originating at an earlier period or date: old maps.

15.	prehistoric; ancient: There may have been an old land bridge between Asia and Alaska.

16.	(initial capital letter) (of a language) in its oldest known period, as attested by the earliest written records: Old Czech.

17.	experienced: He's an old hand at welding.

18.	of long standing; having been such for a comparatively long time: an old and trusted employee.

19.	(of colors) dull, faded, or subdued: old rose.

20.	deteriorated through age or long use; worn, decayed, or dilapidated: old clothes.

21.	Physical Geography. (of landforms) far advanced in reduction by erosion or the like.

22.	sedate, sensible, mature, or wise: That child seems old beyond his years.

23.	(used to indicate affection, familiarity, disparagement, or a personalization): good old Bob; that dirty old jalopy.

24.	Informal. (used as an intensive) great; uncommon: a high old time.

25.	former; having been so formerly: a dinner for his old students.

–noun

26.	(used with a plural verb) old persons collectively (usually prec. by the): appropriations to care for the old.

27.	a person or animal of a specified age or age group (used in combination): a class for six-year-olds; a horse race for three-year-olds.

28.	old or former time, often time long past: days of old.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE eald, ald; c. D old, G alt, Goth altheis; akin to ON ala to nourish

Related forms:

oldness, noun

Synonyms:
1. Old, aged, elderly all mean well along in years. An old person has lived long, nearly to the end of the usual period of life. An aged person is very far advanced in years, and is usually afflicted with the infirmities of age. An elderly person is somewhat old, but usually has the mellowness, satisfactions, and joys of age ahead. 9. olden, early.

Antonyms:
1. young.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To old

old (ōld)

adj. old·er, old·est

1. Having lived or existed for a relatively long time; far advanced in years or life.
2. Relatively advanced in age: Pamela is our oldest child.
3. Belonging to a remote or former period in history; ancient: old fossils.
4. Belonging to or being of an earlier time: her old classmates.
5. Having become slower in flow and less vigorous in action. Used of a river.
6. Having become simpler in form and of lower relief. Used of a landform.
7. Used as an intensive: Come back any old time. Don't give me any ol' excuse.
8. Used to express affection or familiarity: Good ol' Sam.
Made long ago; in existence for many years: an old book.
Of or relating to a long life or to people who have had long lives: a ripe old age.
Having or exhibiting the physical characteristics of age: a prematurely old face.
Having or exhibiting the wisdom of age; mature: a child who is old for his years.
Having lived or existed for a specified length of time: She was 12 years old.
1. Belonging to a remote or former period in history; ancient: old fossils.
2. Belonging to or being of an earlier time: her old classmates.
3. Having become slower in flow and less vigorous in action. Used of a river.
4. Having become simpler in form and of lower relief. Used of a landform.
5. Used as an intensive: Come back any old time. Don't give me any ol' excuse.
6. Used to express affection or familiarity: Good ol' Sam.
often Old Being the earlier or earliest of two or more related objects, stages, versions, or periods.
Geology
1. Having become slower in flow and less vigorous in action. Used of a river.
2. Having become simpler in form and of lower relief. Used of a landform.
3. Used as an intensive: Come back any old time. Don't give me any ol' excuse.
4. Used to express affection or familiarity: Good ol' Sam.
Exhibiting the effects of time or long use; worn: an old coat.
Known through long acquaintance; long familiar: an old friend.
Skilled or able through long experience; practiced.
often ol' (ōl)
1. Used as an intensive: Come back any old time. Don't give me any ol' excuse.
2. Used to express affection or familiarity: Good ol' Sam.

An individual of a specified age: a five-year-old.
Old people considered as a group. Used with the: caring for the old.
Former times; yore: in days of old.

[Middle English, from Old English eald; see al-² in Indo-European roots.]
old'ness n.

Synonyms: These adjectives describe what belongs to or dates from an earlier time or period. Old is the most general term: old lace; an old saying.
Ancient pertains to the distant past: "the hills,/Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun" (William Cullen Bryant).
Archaic implies a very remote, often primitive period: an archaic Greek bronze of the seventh century B.C.
Antediluvian applies to what is extremely outdated: "a branch of one of your antediluvian families" (William Congreve).
Antique is applied to what is especially appreciated or valued because of its age: antique furniture; an antique vase.
Antiquated describes what is out of date, no longer fashionable, or discredited: "No idea is so antiquated that it was not once modern. No idea is so modern that it will not someday be antiquated" (Ellen Glasgow).

Usage Note: Old is the bluntest of the adjectives most commonly used in referring to advanced or advancing age. It generally suggests at least a degree of age-related infirmity, and for that reason it is often avoided in formal or polite speech. Many prefer elderly as a more neutral and respectful term, but it too can suggest frailty, especially in reference to individuals as opposed to a group or population. And while senior enjoys wide usage as both a noun and adjective in many civic or social contexts, it is often considered unpleasantly euphemistic in a phrase such as the senior couple living next door. · As a comparative form, older would logically seem to indicate greater age than old. Except when a direct comparison is being made, however, the opposite is generally true. The older man in the tweed jacket suggests a somewhat younger or more vigorous man than if one substitutes old or elderly. Where old expresses an absolute, an arrival at old age, older takes a more relative view of aging as a continuum—older, but not yet old. As such, older is more than just a euphemism for the blunter old, offering as it does a more precise term for someone between middle and advanced age. And unlike elderly, older does not particularly suggest frailness or infirmity, making it the natural choice in many situations. See Usage Note at elder¹.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Old

Old\, n. Open country. [Obs.] See World. --Shak.

Old

Old\, a. [Compar. Older; superl. Oldest.] [OE. old, ald, AS. ald, eald; akin to D. oud, OS. ald, OFries. ald, old, G. alt, Goth. alpeis, and also to Goth. alan to grow up, Icel. ala to bear, produce, bring up, L. alere to nourish. Cf. Adult, Alderman, Aliment, Auld, Elder.]

1. Not young; advanced far in years or life; having lived till toward the end of the ordinary term of living; as, an old man; an old age; an old horse; an old tree.

Let not old age disgrace my high desire. --Sir P. Sidney.

The melancholy news that we grow old. --Young.

2. Not new or fresh; not recently made or produced; having existed for a long time; as, old wine; an old friendship. "An old acquaintance." --Camden.

3. Formerly existing; ancient; not modern; preceding; original; as, an old law; an old custom; an old promise. "The old schools of Greece." --Milton. "The character of the old Ligurians." --Addison.

4. Continued in life; advanced in the course of existence; having (a certain) length of existence; -- designating the age of a person or thing; as, an infant a few hours old; a cathedral centuries old.

And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? --Cen. xlvii. 8.

Note: In this use old regularly follows the noun that designates the age; as, she was eight years old.

5. Long practiced; hence, skilled; experienced; cunning; as, an old offender; old in vice.

Vane, young in years, but in sage counsel old. --Milton.

6. Long cultivated; as, an old farm; old land, as opposed to new land, that is, to land lately cleared.

7. Worn out; weakened or exhausted by use; past usefulness; as, old shoes; old clothes.

8. More than enough; abundant. [Obs.]

If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have old turning the key. --Shak.

9. Aged; antiquated; hence, wanting in the mental vigor or other qualities belonging to youth; -- used disparagingly as a term of reproach.

10. Old-fashioned; wonted; customary; as of old; as, the good old times; hence, colloquially, gay; jolly.

11. Used colloquially as a term of cordiality and familiarity. "Go thy ways, old lad." --Shak.

Old age, advanced years; the latter period of life.

Old bachelor. See Bachelor, 1.

Old Catholics. See under Catholic.

Old English. See under English. n., 2.

Old Nick, Old Scratch, the devil.

Old lady (Zo["o]l.), a large European noctuid moth (Mormo maura).

Old maid. (a) A woman, somewhat advanced in years, who has never been married; a spinster. (b) (Bot.) A West Indian name for the pink-flowered periwinkle (Vinca rosea). (c) A simple game of cards, played by matching them. The person with whom the odd card is left is the old maid.

Old man's beard. (Bot.) (a) The traveler's joy (Clematis Vitalba). So named from the abundant long feathery awns of its fruit. (b) The Tillandsia usneoides. See Tillandsia.

Old man's head (Bot.), a columnar cactus (Pilocereus senilis), native of Mexico, covered towards the top with long white hairs.

Old red sandstone (Geol.), a series of red sandstone rocks situated below the rocks of the Carboniferous age and comprising various strata of siliceous sandstones and conglomerates. See Sandstone, and the Chart of Geology.

Old school, a school or party belonging to a former time, or preserving the character, manner, or opinions of a former time; as, a gentleman of the old school; -- used also adjectively; as, Old-School Presbyterians.

Old sledge, an old and well-known game of cards, called also all fours, and high, low, Jack, and the game.

Old squaw (Zo["o]l.), a duck (Clangula hyemalis) inhabiting the northern parts of both hemispheres. The adult male is varied with black and white and is remarkable for the length of its tail. Called also longtailed duck, south southerly, callow, hareld, and old wife.

Old style. (Chron.) See the Note under Style.

Old Testament. See under Testament.

Old wife. [In the senses b and c written also oldwife.] (a) A prating old woman; a gossip.

Refuse profane and old wives' fables. --1 Tim. iv. 7. (b) (Zo["o]l.) The local name of various fishes, as the European black sea bream (Cantharus lineatus), the American alewife, etc. (c) (Zo["o]l.) A duck; the old squaw.

Old World, the Eastern Hemisphere.

Syn: Aged; ancient; pristine; primitive; antique; antiquated; old-fashioned; obsolete. See Ancient.

Language Translation for : old

Spanish: viejo, mayor,

German: alt,

Japanese: 年老いた

More Translations »

old

O.E. ald (Anglian), eald (W.Saxon), from W.Gmc. *althas "grown up, adult" (cf. O.Fris. ald, Goth. alþeis, Du. oud, Ger. alt), originally a pp. stem of a verb meaning "grow, nourish" (cf. Goth. alan "to grow up," O.N. ala "to nourish"), from PIE base *al- "to grow, nourish" (cf. Gk. aldaino "make grow, strengthen," althein, althainein "to get well;" L. alere "to feed, nourish, bring up, increase," altus "high," lit. “grown tall,” almus "nurturing, nourishing," alumnus "fosterling, step-child;" O.Ir. alim "I nourish"). The usual PIE root is *sen- (cf. senior). A few IE languages distinguish words for "old" (vs. young) from words for "old" (vs. new), and some have separate words for aged persons as opposed to old things. L. senex was used of aged living things, mostly persons, while vetus (lit. "having many years") was used of inanimate things. Gk. geraios was used mostly of humans; Gk. palaios was used mostly of things, of persons only in a derogatory sense. Gk. also had arkhaios, lit. "belonging to the beginning," which parallels Fr. ancien, used mostly with ref. to things "of former times." O.E. also had fyrn "ancient," related to O.E. feor "far, distant" (see far, and cf. Goth. fairneis, O.N. forn "old, of old, of former times," O.H.G. firni "old, experienced"). The original O.E. vowel is preserved in Scots auld. The original comp. and superl. retained in particular uses elder, eldest, also alderman). Pseudo-archaic mock-antique variant olde is attested from 1927. Oldie "an old tune or film" is from 1940. First record of old-timer is from 1860. Expression old as the hills first recorded 1819. The good old days dates from 1828. Of old "of old times" is from c.1386. Old Glory for "the American flag" is first attested 1862. Old maid "woman who remains single well beyond the usual marrying age" is from 1530; the card game is attested by that name from 1844. Old man "husband, father, boss" is from 1854, earlier (1830) military slang for "commanding officer;" old lady "wife, mother" is attested from c.1775. Old English is attested from 1849 as a type of black-letter font.

old

In addition to the idioms beginning with old, also see any old; chip off the old block; comfortable as an old shoe; dirty joke (old man); get the air (old heave-ho); no fool like an old fool; of old; ripe old age; same old story; settle a score (old scores); stamping ground, old; teach an old dog new tricks; up to one's old tricks.

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