age of consent
Americannoun
noun
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the age at which a person is considered legally competent to consent to sexual intercourse
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the age at which a person can enter into a legally binding contract
Etymology
Origin of age of consent
First recorded in 1800–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This was the year Japan passed landmark laws to redefine rape from "forcible sexual intercourse" to "non-consensual sexual intercourse" and raised the age of consent from 13 to 16.
From BBC • Feb. 27, 2025
New York judge William Thompson Howell wrote 500 pages that spanned provisions on dueling, accidental homicides by ax and age of consent that would govern the newly formed territory of fewer than 7,000 people.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 14, 2024
Norman Woods of South Dakota Family Voice Action said it doesn’t make sense to raise the age for marriage if the age of consent in South Dakota remains at 16.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 30, 2024
It has been this way since 1885 in the UK, when the age of consent was raised from 13.
From BBC • Sep. 23, 2023
The age of consent is eighteen years in all of the states in which women have had the ballot, although in only eight of the others is it so high.
From A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil by Addams, Jane
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
