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Older   /ˈoʊldər/   Listen
adjective
Old  adj.  (compar. older; superl. oldest)  
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." "The melancholy news that we grow old."
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."
3.
Formerly existing; ancient; not modern; preceding; original; as, an old law; an old custom; an old promise. "The old schools of Greece." "The character of the old Ligurians."
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?" 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."
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."
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."
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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), 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 Old Testament under Testament, and see tanak.
Old wife. (In the senses (b) and (c) written also oldwife)
(a)
A prating old woman; a gossip. "Refuse profane and old wives' fables."
(b)
(Zool.) The local name of various fishes, as the European black sea bream (Cantharus lineatus), the American alewife, etc.
(c)
(Zool.) A duck; the old squaw.
Old World, the Eastern Hemisphere.
Synonyms: Aged; ancient; pristine; primitive; antique; antiquated; old-fashioned; obsolete. See Ancient.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Older" Quotes from Famous Books



... saw Yorke catch hold of him, but Jerry sent the twisted-mouthed man reeling with a blow; not until Dailey and Birch flung themselves on him was he quieted. Then he once more became himself, but he had been struck a hard blow; he looked ten years older, as Mart commented below ...
— The Pirate Shark • Elliott Whitney

... well feel you are too young—indeed I wish, for this business, you were older!—but you will find some nice woman to be hostess and chaperon; the experiment will interest and amuse you, and the time will soon go. You know I could not ask you—unless some things were—as they are. But that being so, I feel as if I were putting ...
— Helena • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... spirit: and when I was a boy, I never came home from school or college for a few days, but though we longed to see one another before, yet ere the first day was over, we had a quarrel; for she, being seven years older than I, was always for domineering over me, and I could not bear it. And I used, on her frequently quarrelling with the maids, and being always at a word and a blow, to call her Captain Bab; for her name is Barbara. And when my Lord Davers courted her, my ...
— Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded • Samuel Richardson

... need of special privacy when you talk with them on religious topics; they would just as soon have all the world know that they want to love and serve Jesus as not; they are not a bit ashamed of it; it is not until they grow older, and the influences of silent tongues on that subject all around them have had their effect, that they need to ...
— The Chautauqua Girls At Home • Pansy, AKA Isabella M. Alden

... him. The ball broke the animal's right hip, and he plunged away on three legs, the other hanging useless. The hunter, leaping on his horse, put spurs to its flanks, and in three minutes he and his companions were close on the bull. To his astonishment, and the still greater surprise of two older hunters, the unhurt bull stuck to his comrade's side without flinching. He fired another shot, which took effect in the lungs of the first buffalo. The second sheered off for a moment, but instantly returned to his ...
— Stories of Animal Sagacity • W.H.G. Kingston


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