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teens

American  
[teenz] / tinz /

plural noun

  1. the numbers 13 through 19, especially in a progression, as the 13th through the 19th years of a lifetime or of a given or implied century.

teens British  
/ tiːnz /

plural noun

  1. the years of a person's life between the ages of 13 and 19 inclusive

  2. all the numbers that end in -teen

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of teens

1595–1605; teen (extracted from numbers with -teen as final element) + -s 3

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.

The immigration crackdown and tepid interest among teens make it tough to fill jobs marked by grueling work, low pay and high turnover.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

Cauchi, who was first diagnosed with schizophrenia in his teens, was unmedicated and homeless at the time of the attack.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026

The show will return to HBO on Sunday, four years after the last instalment, and finds its main characters having evolved from being troubled teens to equally troubled twenty-somethings.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

In a memorable Season 1 episode, the teens journey to Mexico to spend spring break in Cabo San Lucas.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

About this time Arjun was in his early teens.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

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.