10 PREP If you are moving against a current, tide, or wind, you are moving in the opposite direction to it. □ …swimming upstream against the current.
11 PREP If something happens or is considered against a particular background of events, it is considered in relation to those events, because those events are relevant to it. □ The profits rise was achieved against a backdrop of falling metal prices.
12 PREP If something is measured or valued against something else, it is measured or valued by comparing it with the other thing. □ Our policy has to be judged against a clear test: will it improve the standard of education? □ The U.S. dollar is down against most foreign currencies today.
13 PHRASE If you discuss a particular set of facts or figures as against another set, you are comparing or contrasting the two sets of facts or figures. □ The study found that the average length of US TV breaks was 141 seconds as against 236 seconds in Britain.
14 PREP The odds against something happening are the chances or odds that it will not happen. □ The odds against him surviving are incredible. ● ADV [n ADV ] Against is also an adverb. □ What were the odds against?
15 up against → see up ➋
16 against the clock → see clock
agape /əge I p/ ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you describe someone as having their mouth agape , their mouth is open very wide, often because they are very surprised by something. [WRITTEN ] □ She stood looking at Carmen with her mouth agape.
ag|ate /æ g I t/ (agates ) N‑VAR Agate is a very hard stone which is used to make jewellery.
age ◆◆◆ /e I dʒ/ (ages , ageing , aging , aged ) The spelling aging is also used, mainly in American English. 1 N‑VAR Your age is the number of years that you have lived. □ She has a nephew who is just ten years of age. □ [+ of ] At the age of sixteen he qualified for a place at the University of Hamburg. □ I admired him for being so confident at his age.
2 N‑VAR The age of a thing is the number of years since it was made. □ [+ of ] Everything in the room looks in keeping with the age of the building.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Age is the state of being old or the process of becoming older. □ Perhaps he has grown wiser with age. □ The fabric was showing signs of age.
4 VERB When someone ages , or when something ages them, they seem much older and less strong or less alert. □ [V ] He had always looked so young, but he seemed to have aged in the last few months. □ [V n] He was only in his mid-thirties, but already worry had aged him.
5 N‑COUNT An age is a period in history. □ [+ of ] …the age of steam and steel. □ …items of Bronze Age pottery.
6 N‑COUNT You can say an age or ages to mean a very long time. [INFORMAL ] □ He waited what seemed an age. □ The bus took absolutely ages to arrive.
7 → see also aged , ageing , coming of age , dark age , golden age , Ice Age , Iron Age , middle age , Stone Age
8 PHRASE If someone tells you to act your age , they are telling you to behave in a way that is suitable for someone your age, because they think you are behaving in a childish way. [DISAPPROVAL ]
9 PHRASE If something comes of age , it reaches an important stage of development and is accepted by a large number of people. □ The New York Yankees' stadium is where baseball came of age.
10 PHRASE When someone comes of age , they become legally an adult. □ The company was to be held in trust for Eddie until he came of age.
11 PHRASE Someone who is under age is not legally old enough to do something, for example to buy an alcoholic drink. □ Because she was under age, her parents were still responsible for her. □ …under age smoking. SYNONYMS age NOUN 6
time: We are in one of the most severe recessions in modern times.
era: It was an era of austerity.
period: No reference to their existence appears in any literature of the period.
epoch: The birth of Christ was the beginning of a major epoch of world history.
a ge-appro priate ADJ Something that is age-appropriate is suitable for the age that a person is. □ That dress isn't really age-appropriate.
aged ◆◇◇ Pronounced /e I dʒd/ for meaning 1 , and /e I dʒ I d/ for meanings 2 and 3 . 1 ADJ You use aged followed by a number to say how old someone is. □ Alan has two children, aged eleven and nine.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Aged means very old. □ She has an aged parent who's capable of being very difficult.
3 N‑PLURAL You can refer to all people who are very old as the aged . [OLD-FASHIONED ] □ …people who work with the aged.
4 → see also middle-aged
a ge group (age groups ) N‑COUNT An age group is the people in a place or organization who were born during a particular period of time, for example all the people aged between 18 and 25. □ …a style that would appeal to all age groups.
age|ing /e I dʒ I ŋ/ also aging
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Someone or something that is ageing is becoming older and less healthy or efficient. □ John lives with his ageing mother. □ Ageing aircraft need more frequent safety inspections.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Ageing is the process of becoming old or becoming worn out.