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teens

[teenz]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR teens ON THESAURUS.COM

plural noun

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.

Origin of teens

1595–1605; teen (extracted from numbers with -teen as final element) + -s³

teen

¹

[teen]

noun

Archaic. suffering; grief.

Obsolete. injury; harm.

Origin of teen

¹

before 1000; Middle English tene, Old English tēona; cognate with Old Frisian tiona, Old Saxon tiono, Old Norse tjōn

teen

²

[teen]

adjective

noun

a teenager.

Origin of teen

²

First recorded in 1940–45; by shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for teens

juvenile, youngster, youth, minor, adolescent, stripling, teenybopper

Examples from the Web for teens

Contemporary Examples of teens

What is the suicide rate of Christian teens relative to transgender ones?
Do LGBTs Owe Christians an Olive Branch? Try The Other Way Around
Jay Michaelson
December 14, 2014
That is seven children and teens killed by gunfire each and every day in America.
The Fear About Things That Won't Kill Us Is Killing Us
Cliff Schecter
October 25, 2014
But for some teens ISIS seems to symbolize power and purpose, a great drama promising deliverance from the humdrum.
How ISIS’s Colorado Girls Were Caught
Michael Daly
October 22, 2014
Teens may be unaware of the potential for their private images to end up being disseminated.
Sexting Is the New ‘First Base’
Russell Saunders
October 9, 2014
As they went from their teens into their 20s, McCain and Kastigar each had minor run-ins with the law.
American Jihadis Douglas McCain and Troy Kastigar: From Losers to Martyrs
Michael Daly
August 28, 2014

Historical Examples of teens

She was no older than Dilly, but she had seemed matronly in her teens.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
It was the plaid belonging to Stella Hardy, who had died in her teens.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
He was getting as incorrigibly sentimental as a girl in her teens!
Louisiana Lou
William West Winter
If we are ever to reach the Heights of Maturity we must spend ten years in the Teens.
Almost A Man
Mary Wood-Allen
They had ventured to apple parings together when not yet out of their 'teens.
Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail
Ezra Meeker

British Dictionary definitions for teens

teens

pl n

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

all the numbers that end in -teen

teen

¹

adjective

informal another word for teenage

teen

²

noun

obsolete affliction or woe

Word Origin for teen

Old English tēona; related to Old Saxon tiono, Old Frisian tiona injury

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

Word Origin and History for teens

n.

1670s (plural), "teen-age years of a person," formed from -teen taken as a separate word. As "decade of years comprising numbers ending in -teen," from 1889.

teen

n.

"teen-aged person," 1818 (but rare before 20c.), from -teen. As an adjective meaning "of or for teen-agers," from 1947.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper