YEARS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does years mean? 

• YEARS (noun)
  The noun YEARS has 3 senses:

1. a late time of life

2. a prolonged period of time

3. the time during which someone's life continues

  Familiarity information: YEARS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• YEARS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A late time of life

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

age; eld; geezerhood; old age; years

Context example:

on the brink of geezerhood

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

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

Meronyms (parts of "years"):

mid-sixties; sixties (the time of life between 60 and 70)

mid-seventies; seventies (the time of life between 70 and 80)

eighties; mid-eighties (the time of life between 80 and 90)

mid-nineties; nineties (the time of life between 90 and 100)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "years"):

dotage; second childhood; senility (mental infirmity as a consequence of old age; sometimes shown by foolish infatuations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A prolonged period of time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

age; long time; years

Context example:

I haven't been there for years and years

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

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "years"):

month of Sundays (a time perceived as long)

aeon; eon (an immeasurably long period of time)

blue moon (a long time)

year dot (as long ago as anyone can remember)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The time during which someone's life continues

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

days; years

Context example:

in his final years

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

life (the period from the present until death)

 Context examples 

“She has been dead these nine years.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The average age at presentation is about 50 years.

(Ovarian Brenner Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

This expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Any pregnancy or childbirth related procedure associated with a mother during her reproductive years.

(Obstetric Procedure, NCI Thesaurus)

Studies show that a good diet in your later years reduces your risk of osteoporosis, high blood pressure, heart diseases and certain cancers.

(Nutrition for Seniors, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

The time period in a child's life that is generally defined as between 5 and 10 years of life.

(Middle Childhood, NCI Thesaurus)

A person between young adult and elderly, approximately 40-60 years of age.

(Middle Adult, NCI Thesaurus)

Eight years, almost eight years had passed, since all had been given up.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

A human life stage that begins at six years of age and continues until eleven complete years of age.

(Middle Childhood, NICHD)

A series of neurocognitive tests for children from 3 to 16 years of age.

(NEPSY, NCI Thesaurus)