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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

years en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • yîrz (General-American)
  • (US) audio
  • /jɪəz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /jɪːz/ (British, Southern, Standard)
  • /jɜːz/ Wales, General South African, other regions
  • /jɪɹz/ (General-American)

Meanings

  1. (form-of, plural) plural of year.
    form of year
    • 1981, May 5 1718-PDT, Jim McGrath, Earliest Usenet use via Google Groups: fa.sf-lovers, said with a smile at an awards ceremony in the Pennsylvania state Capitol It will be a shorter book and it will not start four million years ago.
    • Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy. 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
  2. (colloquial, excessive, plural, plural-only) A very long time.
    • It took years for the bus to come.

Synonyms

ages (unusually long time) · for ever (unusually long time) · donkey's (unusually long time) · donkey's years (unusually long time) · yonks (unusually long time)