- year
- noun1 period of 12 months; period from January till DecemberADJECTIVE▪ last, past▪
The chart shows our performance over the past year.
▪ past, preceding, previous, recent▪The event has not proved popular in past years.
▪They had met once the previous year.
▪ current▪ given, single▪The death rate in any given year.
▪I paint the house every single year.
▪ coming, ensuing, following, future, next, subsequent▪We have high hopes for the coming year.
▪She died the following year.
▪We aim to do even better in future years.
▪ consecutive, straight, successive▪She won the race for the third successive year.
▪ alternate▪ new▪We're going skiing early in the new year.
▪ final (esp. BrE)▪final-year university students
▪ entire, full, whole▪ long, short▪We worked for five long years on this project.
▪ 20-odd, 30-odd, etc.▪I visited Morocco 20-odd years ago.
▪ banner (AmE), golden, good, great, happy, profitable▪the golden years of motoring
▪ big, memorable, momentous▪ peak, record▪a peak year for exports
▪ bad, hard, lean, poor, tough▪ calendar▪ leap▪ academic, school▪ freshman, junior, senior, sophomore (all in the US)▪ gap (BrE)▪He was on a gap year before going to university.
▪ financial (BrE), fiscal (esp. AmE), tax (esp. BrE)▪ election▪ sabbatical▪He spent his sabbatical year doing research in Moscow.
▪ rookie (AmE, sports)▪ light (often figurative)▪The new range puts us light years ahead of the competition.
VERB + YEAR▪ spend▪He spent last year trying to get a new job.
▪ take▪It took him ten years to qualify as a vet.
▪ celebrate▪Next month, they celebrate fifty years of marriage.
▪ put on, take off▪His wife's death has put years on him (= made him look/feel much older).
▪Careful make-up and styling can take years off you(= make you look much younger).
YEAR + VERB▪ begin, start▪ end, finish▪ elapse, go by, pass▪A year elapsed before I heard from him again.
▪The last year went by in flash.
▪ run from … to …▪The academic year runs from October to June.
▪ see sth▪That year saw the explosion of the Internet.
▪ mark sth▪This year marks the 10th anniversary of her death.
PREPOSITION▪ by the year …▪The reforms will be fully implemented by the year 2007.
▪ during the year, over the year▪during the next academic year
▪Over the past few years, we've made significant changes.
▪Over the past several years, we've made significant changes. (AmE)
▪ for a/the year▪profit for the current year to December 31
▪We lived there for ten years.
▪ in a year▪I hope to retire in a year/in a year's time.
▪ in a/the year▪in the next tax year
▪Britain was invaded in the year 1066.
▪In the past few years, she has become one of our top-selling authors.
▪ in years▪It's the first time we've met in years (= for many years)).
▪ over a year, under a year▪We've been friends for over twenty years.
▪ per year▪Over 10 000 people per year are injured in this type of accident.
▪ throughout the year▪The global economy means that all types of fruit and vegetables are available throughout the year.
▪ years between … and … , years from … to …▪the boom years from 1993 to 2000
▪ year of▪The book represents three years of hard work.
▪That was in the year of the great flood.
PHRASES▪ after all these years, after all those years▪They're still friends after all these years.
▪ all year long▪I've been waiting for this moment all year long.
▪ all the year round (BrE), all year round▪The city tour runs all the year round.
▪ the beginning of the year, the end of the year, the middle of the year, the start of the year▪ be six, etc. years of age, be six, etc. years old▪She's only ten years old.
▪ early in the year, late in the year▪ a time of year▪It's usually much colder at this time of year.
▪ the turn of the year (esp. BrE)▪The team has suffered a loss of form since the turn of the year.
2 years period of timeADJECTIVE▪ intervening▪He soon realized that a lot had changed in the intervening years.
▪ early, later▪the early years of the 21st century
▪In his later years, he drifted away from politics.
▪ college, high-school (both AmE)▪ inter-war, post-war, pre-war, war▪The children spent the war years with relatives.
▪ childhood, early, formative, teen, teenage, tender▪She was born in Spain but spent her formative years in Italy.
▪children of tender years
VERB + YEARS▪ spend▪His early years were spent in San Francisco.
PREPOSITION▪ during the … years▪It happened during the Clinton years.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
