"old as the hills" meaning in English

See old as the hills in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˌəʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌoʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-old as the hills.ogg
Rhymes: -ɪlz Etymology: Possibly a reference to Job 15:7 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou made before the hills?” Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} old as the hills (not comparable)
  1. (idiomatic, simile, chiefly hyperbolic) Extremely old. Tags: excessive, idiomatic, not-comparable Categories (topical): Age Synonyms: aged, age-old, ancient, old as the Pyramids, old as time, older than dirt, older than the Pyramids, old, older than the hills Translations (extremely old): vanha kuin taivas (Finnish), vieux comme le monde (French), vello coma o mundo (Galician), vén, mint az országút (Hungarian), chomh sean leis an gceo (Irish), chomh sean leis na cnoic (Irish), chomh sean leis na clocha glasa (Irish), chomh sean leis an díle (Irish), vecchio come Matusalemme [masculine] (Italian), vecchio come il cucco [masculine] (Italian), stary jak świat [masculine] (Polish), mais velho que a Sé de Braga (Portuguese), mais velho que o cagar em cócoras (Portuguese), más viejo que Matusalén (Spanish), más visto que el tebeo (Spanish), más viejo que mear de pie (Spanish), gammal som gatan (Swedish), cyn hyned â phechod (Welsh), cyn hyned â Methuselah (Welsh), cyn hyned â'r garreg (Welsh)

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "Possibly a reference to Job 15:7 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou made before the hills?”",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "old as the hills (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
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        },
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Age",
          "orig": "en:Age",
          "parents": [
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            "Time",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
        }
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “In Fashion”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, pages 6–7:",
          "text": "His family is as old as the hills, and infinitely more respectable.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1937, Aldous Huxley, “Social Reform and Violence”, in Ends and Means: An Inquiry into the Nature of Ideals and into the Methods Employed for Their Realization, London: Chatto & Windus, published 1957, →OCLC, page 25:",
          "text": "A violent revolution cannot achieve anything except the inevitable results of violence, which are as old as the hills.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Extremely old."
      ],
      "id": "en-old_as_the_hills-en-adj-RKvzIW0N",
      "links": [
        [
          "Extremely",
          "extremely"
        ],
        [
          "old",
          "old#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, simile, chiefly hyperbolic) Extremely old."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "aged"
        },
        {
          "word": "age-old"
        },
        {
          "word": "ancient"
        },
        {
          "word": "old as the Pyramids"
        },
        {
          "word": "old as time"
        },
        {
          "word": "older than dirt"
        },
        {
          "word": "older than the Pyramids"
        },
        {
          "word": "old"
        },
        {
          "word": "older than the hills"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "excessive",
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "vanha kuin taivas"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "vieux comme le monde"
        },
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "vello coma o mundo"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "vén, mint az országút"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "chomh sean leis an gceo"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "chomh sean leis na cnoic"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "chomh sean leis na clocha glasa"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "chomh sean leis an díle"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "vecchio come Matusalemme"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "vecchio come il cucco"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "stary jak świat"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "mais velho que a Sé de Braga"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "mais velho que o cagar em cócoras"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "más viejo que Matusalén"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "más visto que el tebeo"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "más viejo que mear de pie"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "gammal som gatan"
        },
        {
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "cyn hyned â phechod"
        },
        {
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "cyn hyned â Methuselah"
        },
        {
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "extremely old",
          "word": "cyn hyned â'r garreg"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌəʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌoʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-old as the hills.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-old_as_the_hills.ogg/En-au-old_as_the_hills.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-old_as_the_hills.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪlz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "old as the hills"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Possibly a reference to Job 15:7 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou made before the hills?”",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "old as the hills (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
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        "Rhymes:English/ɪlz",
        "Rhymes:English/ɪlz/4 syllables",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with Galician translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Irish translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "Terms with Welsh translations",
        "en:Age"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “In Fashion”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, pages 6–7:",
          "text": "His family is as old as the hills, and infinitely more respectable.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1937, Aldous Huxley, “Social Reform and Violence”, in Ends and Means: An Inquiry into the Nature of Ideals and into the Methods Employed for Their Realization, London: Chatto & Windus, published 1957, →OCLC, page 25:",
          "text": "A violent revolution cannot achieve anything except the inevitable results of violence, which are as old as the hills.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Extremely old."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Extremely",
          "extremely"
        ],
        [
          "old",
          "old#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "simile",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, simile, chiefly hyperbolic) Extremely old."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "aged"
        },
        {
          "word": "age-old"
        },
        {
          "word": "ancient"
        },
        {
          "word": "old as the Pyramids"
        },
        {
          "word": "old as time"
        },
        {
          "word": "older than dirt"
        },
        {
          "word": "older than the Pyramids"
        },
        {
          "word": "old"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "excessive",
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌəʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌoʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-old as the hills.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d3/En-au-old_as_the_hills.ogg/En-au-old_as_the_hills.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/En-au-old_as_the_hills.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɪlz"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "older than the hills"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "vanha kuin taivas"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "vieux comme le monde"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "vello coma o mundo"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "vén, mint az országút"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "chomh sean leis an gceo"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "chomh sean leis na cnoic"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "chomh sean leis na clocha glasa"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "chomh sean leis an díle"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "vecchio come Matusalemme"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "vecchio come il cucco"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "stary jak świat"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "mais velho que a Sé de Braga"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "mais velho que o cagar em cócoras"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "más viejo que Matusalén"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "más visto que el tebeo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "más viejo que mear de pie"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "gammal som gatan"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "cyn hyned â phechod"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "cyn hyned â Methuselah"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "extremely old",
      "word": "cyn hyned â'r garreg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "old as the hills"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (95d2be1 and 64224ec). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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