[syn: previous(a), old]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Old \Old\ ([=o]ld), n.
Open country. [Obs.] See World. --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.]
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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.
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Let not old age disgrace my high desire. --Sir P.
Sidney.
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The melancholy news that we grow old. --Young.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
--Cen. xlvii.
8.
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Note: In this use old regularly follows the noun that
designates the age; as, she was eight years old.
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5. Long practiced; hence, skilled; experienced; cunning; as,
an old offender; old in vice.
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Vane, young in years, but in sage counsel old.
--Milton.
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6. Long cultivated; as, an old farm; old land, as opposed to
new land, that is, to land lately cleared.
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7. Worn out; weakened or exhausted by use; past usefulness;
as, old shoes; old clothes.
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8. More than enough; abundant. [Obs.]
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If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have
old turning the key. --Shak.
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9. Aged; antiquated; hence, wanting in the mental vigor or
other qualities belonging to youth; -- used disparagingly
as a term of reproach.
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10. Old-fashioned; wonted; customary; as of old; as, the good
old times; hence, colloquially, gay; jolly.
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11. Used colloquially as a term of cordiality and
familiarity. "Go thy ways, old lad." --Shak.
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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. --1 Tim.
iv. 7.
(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.
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Syn: Aged; ancient; pristine; primitive; antique; antiquated;
old-fashioned; obsolete. See Ancient.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
old
adj 1: (used especially of persons) having lived for a
relatively long time or attained a specific age; "his
mother is very old"; "a ripe old age"; "how old are you?"
[ant: immature, young]
2: of long duration; not new; "old tradition"; "old house"; "old
wine"; "old country"; "old friendships"; "old money" [ant:
new]
3: (used for emphasis) very familiar; "good old boy"; "same old
story"
4: skilled through long experience; "an old offender"; "the
older soldiers" [syn: old, older]
5: belonging to some prior time; "erstwhile friend"; "our former
glory"; "the once capital of the state"; "her quondam lover"
[syn: erstwhile(a), former(a), old, onetime(a), one-
time(a), quondam(a), sometime(a)]
6: (used informally especially for emphasis); "a real honest-to-
god live cowboy"; "had us a high old time"; "went upriver to
look at a sure-enough fish wheel" [syn: honest-to-god,
honest-to-goodness, old(a), sure-enough(a)]
7: of a very early stage in development; "Old English is also
called Anglo Saxon"; "Old High German is High German from the
middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century"
8: just preceding something else in time or order; "the previous
owner"; "my old house was larger" [syn: previous(a), old]
n 1: past times (especially in the phrase `in days of old')
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
144 Moby Thesaurus words for "old":
abandoned, abjured, adult, advanced, advanced in life,
advanced in years, age-old, aged, ageless, along in years, ancient,
antediluvian, antiquated, antique, archaic, auld, big, blase,
bygone, constant, continuing, cosmopolitan, cosmopolite, dated,
dateless, demode, deserted, discontinued, disused, done with,
early, elderly, enduring, erstwhile, established, experienced,
firm, fore, former, getting on, gray, gray with age, gray-haired,
gray-headed, grown, grown old, grown-up, hoar, hoary, immemorial,
inveterate, knowing, late, lifelong, long-lived, marriable,
marriageable, mature, matured, maturescent, not born yesterday,
not worth saving, nubile, obsolescent, obsolete, of age,
of marriageable age, of old, of yore, old as Methuselah,
old as history, old as time, old-fashioned, old-time, old-timey,
olden, oldfangled, on the shelf, once, onetime, out, out of use,
out-of-date, outdated, outmoded, outworn, overage, passe, past,
past use, patriarchal, pensioned off, perennial, perpetual,
practical, practiced, prehistoric, previous, primeval, primitive,
prior, quondam, recent, relinquished, renounced, resigned, retired,
ripe, ripened, sagacious, seasoned, senectuous, skilled, solid,
sometime, sophisticated, staying, steady, superannuate,
superannuated, superseded, then, timeless, timeworn, traditional,
tried, tried and true, venerable, versed, vet, veteran, whilom,
white, white with age, white-bearded, white-crowned, white-haired,
world-wise, worldly, worldly-wise, worn-out, wrinkled, wrinkly,
years old
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
OLD, adj. In that stage of usefulness which is not inconsistent with
general inefficiency, as an _old man_. Discredited by lapse of time
and offensive to the popular taste, as an _old_ book.
"Old books? The devil take them!" Goby said.
"Fresh every day must be my books and bread."
Nature herself approves the Goby rule
And gives us every moment a fresh fool.
Harley Shum