FORTIES

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does forties mean? 

• FORTIES (noun)
  The noun FORTIES has 2 senses:

1. the time of life between 40 and 50

2. the decade from 1940 to 1949

  Familiarity information: FORTIES used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FORTIES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The time of life between 40 and 50

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

forties; mid-forties

Hypernyms ("forties" is a kind of...):

time of life (a period of time during which a person is normally in a particular life state)

Holonyms ("forties" is a part of...):

adulthood; maturity (the period of time in your life after your physical growth has stopped and you are fully developed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The decade from 1940 to 1949

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

1940s; forties

Hypernyms ("forties" is a kind of...):

decade; decennary; decennium (a period of 10 years)

 Context examples 

The disease can affect men and women of any age, but it usually strikes in your thirties, forties or fifties.

(Osteonecrosis, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)

The ability to grow new egg cells may have significant implications for women in Western societies, many of whom postpone childbearing to establish careers, sometimes into their late thirties or forties.

(Chemotherapy cocktail may cause adult women to grow new egg cells, Wikinews)

The preserved remains of the man in his forties were initially believed to be between 1,500 and 2000 years old but during the 1990s new textile and hair testing dated the skeleton at 10,600 years old.

(Ancient DNA analysis unlocks secrets of Ice Age tribes in the Americas, University of Cambridge)

Today, with improved treatments, some people who have CF are living into their forties, fifties, or older.

(Cystic Fibrosis, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)