old-timer

American  

[ohld-tahy-mer] / ˈoʊldˈtaɪ mər /

noun

Informal.

1. a person whose residence, membership, or experience began long ago and has been continuing for a considerable length of time; veteran.

2. an old person.

3. an old-fashioned person or thing.

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old-timer British  

noun

1. a person who has been in a certain place, occupation, etc, for a long time

2. an old man

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Etymology

Origin of old-timer

First recorded in 1855–60; old-time + -er ¹

Explanation

An old-timer is someone who's been around a long time and has experienced a lot. When you get a new job, the old-timers there are the ones who can show you how things are done. Old-timers are veterans — they're been through it all. The old-timers in a busy office might reminisce about the days before computers, when everyone used typewriters and Rolodexes, and the old-timers in your neighborhood can tell you how quiet it used to be. You can also use this noun to mean "elderly person," like your grandpa and his buddies: "There are so many old-timers at the gym lately, I can never find a free treadmill."

Example Sentences

But now, decades later, Creech is mostly known inside the walls of the Idaho Maximum Security Institution as just “Tom,” a generally well-behaved old-timer with a penchant for poetry.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 24, 2024

Luis Angel Firpo in the old-timer category and Theresa Kibby in the women’s trailblazer category were the other fighters in the class.

From Washington Times • Dec. 7, 2023

An unexpected departure for the duo was “The Straight Story,” a 1999 Disney film starring Richard Farnsworth as an old-timer driving cross-country on his riding lawn mower.

From Washington Post • Dec. 12, 2022

“I’m an old-timer, and I find it hard to believe that anything can be so weak,” Cheng says.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 12, 2022

Because of seniority, they had their pick of easy jobs, and there always seemed to be an old-timer on duty in the PSU.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover