| age of consent |
the age at which a person, usu. female, is legally considered to be competent to consent to sexual relations, used as a standard in determining whether statutory rape has occurred. |
| age of majority |
the age at which a person is granted by law the rights and responsibilities of an adult, such as liability under contract and the right to sue. |
| age-appropriate |
suitable or proper for a person of a particular, specified age. |
| age-old |
as old as the ages; ancient. |
| atomic age |
(often cap.) the period in history characterized by the development and use of atomic energy in the generation of electrical power and for immensely destructive weapons. |
| Bronze Age |
the stage or level of development of human culture that followed the Stone Age and was characterized by the use of bronze tools and weapons; about 3,500 B.C. to 1,000 B.C. |
| coming-of-age |
arrival at maturity, prominence, or respectability. |
| Gilded Age |
in U.S. history, the post-Civil War era, characterized by rapid industrialization, economic expansion, and widespread corruption in business and government. |
| golden age |
(sometimes cap.) in Greek and Roman mythology, the first age of humans, in which people lived peacefully, prosperously, and innocently. [3 definitions] |
| ice age |
a long period of time when glaciers covered large parts of the earth. |
| Iron Age |
the stage or level of development of human culture that followed the Bronze Age and that was characterized by the use of iron tools and weapons, beginning about 1000 B.C. |
| mental age |
an individual's mental ability, measured in terms of the chronological age at which an average person would attain that level of intelligence. |
| middle age |
the period of human life between youth and old age, or the years between forty and sixty-five. |
| old age |
the final stage of life, considered in humans to begin at about age sixty-five, characterized by a decline in health and vigor. |
| old age pension |
(chiefly British) money that an elderly person receives from the government when he or she is no longer able to work. (Cf. social security.) |
| old age pensioner |
(chiefly British) someone who is too old to work and who receives an old age pension. |
| school age |
the age when a child is able or legally required to attend school. |
| Space Age |
(often l.c.) the period characterized by the exploration of space by manned and unmanned spacecraft, regarded as having begun on October 4, 1957, with the launching of the first sputnik. |
| Stone Age |
the stage of human culture when stone tools and weapons were made and used. The Stone Age dates from about two million B.C. to about 3,500 B.C. |