Old vs. Gold

Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.

Example: ‘an old abandoned building;’; ‘an old friend’;

Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.

Example: ‘a wrinkled old man’;

Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.

Example: ‘an old loaf of bread’;

Of an item that has been used and so is not new unused.

Example: ‘I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.’;

Having existed or lived for the specified time.

Example: ‘How old are they? She’s five years old and he's seven. We also have a young teen and a two-year-old child.’; ‘My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.’;

(heading) Of an earlier time.

Former, previous.

Example: ‘My new car is not as good as my old one.’; ‘a school reunion for Old Etonians’;

That is no longer in existence.

Example: ‘The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.’;

Obsolete; out-of-date.

Example: ‘That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.’;

Familiar.

Example: ‘When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.’;

Tiresome.

Example: ‘Your constant pestering is getting old.’;

Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.

A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)

Example: ‘We're having a good old time.’; ‘My next car will be a big old SUV.’; ‘My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas.’;

(obsolete) Excessive, abundant.

(with "the") People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.

Example: ‘A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.’;

Open country.

Not young; advanced far in years or life; having lived till toward the end of the ordinary term of living; as, an old man; an old age; an old horse; an old tree.

Example: ‘Let not old age disgrace my high desire.’; ‘The melancholy news that we grow old.’;

Not new or fresh; not recently made or produced; having existed for a long time; as, old wine; an old friendship.

Formerly existing; ancient; not modern; preceding; original; as, an old law; an old custom; an old promise.

Continued in life; advanced in the course of existence; having (a certain) length of existence; - designating the age of a person or thing; as, an infant a few hours old; a cathedral centuries old.

Example: ‘And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?’;

Long practiced; hence, skilled; experienced; cunning; as, an old offender; old in vice.

Example: ‘Vane, young in years, but in sage counsel old.’;

Long cultivated; as, an old farm; old land, as opposed to new land, that is, to land lately cleared.

Worn out; weakened or exhausted by use; past usefulness; as, old shoes; old clothes.

More than enough; abundant.

Example: ‘If a man were porter of hell gate, he should have old turning the key.’;

Aged; antiquated; hence, wanting in the mental vigor or other qualities belonging to youth; - used disparagingly as a term of reproach.

Old-fashioned; wonted; customary; as of old; as, the good old times; hence, colloquially, gay; jolly.

Used colloquially as a term of cordiality and familiarity.

past times (especially in the phrase `in days of old')

(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age; especially not young; often used as a combining form to indicate an age as specified as in `a week-old baby';

Example: ‘an old man's eagle mind’; ‘his mother is very old’; ‘a ripe old age’; ‘how old are you?’;

of long duration; not new;

Example: ‘old tradition’; ‘old house’; ‘old wine’; ‘old country’; ‘old friendships’; ‘old money’;

of an earlier time;

Example: ‘his old classmates’;

(used for emphasis) very familiar;

Example: ‘good old boy’; ‘same old story’;

lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new;

Example: ‘moth-eaten theories about race’;

just preceding something else in time or order;

Example: ‘the previous owner’; ‘my old house was larger’;

of a very early stage in development;

Example: ‘Old English is also called Anglo Saxon’; ‘Old High German is High German from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century’;

old in experience;

Example: ‘an old offender’; ‘the older soldiers’;

used informally especially for emphasis;

Example: ‘a real honest-to-god live cowboy’; ‘had us a high old time’; ‘went upriver to look at a sure-enough fish wheel’;

having lived for a long time; no longer young

Example: ‘the old man lay propped up on cushions’;

made or built long ago

Example: ‘the old quarter of the town’;

possessed or used for a long time

Example: ‘he gave his old clothes away’;

boring or tiresome, especially as a result of repetition or overfamiliarity

Example: ‘I wish she'd shut up—it's getting old’;

having the characteristics or showing the signs of age

Example: ‘he complained of being old beyond his years’;

belonging to the past; former

Example: ‘valuation under the old rating system was inexact’;

used to refer to a thing which has been replaced by something similar

Example: ‘we moved back into our old house’;

dating from far back; long-established or known

Example: ‘we greeted each other like old friends’; ‘I get sick of the same old routine’;

denoting someone who formerly attended a specified school

Example: ‘an old Etonian’;

(of a form of a language) as used in former or earliest times.

of a specified age

Example: ‘a seven-month-old baby’; ‘he was fourteetn years old’;

a person or animal of the age specified

Example: ‘a nineteen-year-old’;

used to express affection, familiarity, or contempt

Example: ‘good old Mum’; ‘I didn't like playing with silly old dolls’;

(uncountable) A heavy yellow elemental metal of great value, with atomic number 79 and symbol Au.

A coin or coinage made of this material, or supposedly so.

(countable) A bright yellow colour, resembling the metal gold.

(countable) The bullseye of an archery target.

(countable) A gold medal.

Example: ‘France has won three golds and five silvers.’;

(figuratively) Anything or anyone that is very valuable.

A grill jewellery worn on front teeth made of gold.

Miscellaneous unit of currency in fantasy genre.

Made of gold.

Having the colour of gold.

(of commercial services) Premium, superior.

In a finished state, ready for manufacturing.

To pyrolyze or burn food until the color begins to change to a light brown, but not as dark as browning

of or referring to a gold version of something

An old English name of some yellow flower, - the marigold (Calendula), according to Dr. Prior, but in Chaucer perhaps the turnsole.

A metallic element of atomic number 79, constituting the most precious metal used as a common commercial medium of exchange. It has a characteristic yellow color, is one of the heaviest substances known (specific gravity 19.32), is soft, and very malleable and ductile. It is quite unalterable by heat (melting point 1064.4° C), moisture, and most corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for its use in coin and jewelry. Symbol Au (Aurum). Atomic weight 196.97.

Money; riches; wealth.

Example: ‘For me, the gold of France did not seduce.’;

A yellow color, like that of the metal; as, a flower tipped with gold.

Figuratively, something precious or pure; as, hearts of gold.

coins made of gold

a deep yellow color;

Example: ‘an amber light illuminated the room’; ‘he admired the gold of her hair’;

a soft yellow malleable ductile (trivalent and univalent) metallic element; occurs mainly as nuggets in rocks and alluvial deposits; does not react with most chemicals but is attacked by chlorine and aqua regia

great wealth;

Example: ‘Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold, and almost every vice--almighty gold’;

something likened to the metal in brightness or preciousness or superiority etc.;

Example: ‘the child was as good as gold’; ‘she has a heart of gold’;

made from or covered with gold;

Example: ‘gold coins’; ‘the gold dome of the Capitol’; ‘the golden calf’; ‘gilded icons’;

having the deep slightly brownish color of gold;

Example: ‘long aureate (or golden) hair’; ‘a gold carpet’;

a yellow precious metal, the chemical element of atomic number 79, used especially in jewellery and decoration and to guarantee the value of currencies.

Example: ‘gold earrings’;

an alloy of gold

Example: ‘9-carat gold’;

a deep lustrous yellow or yellow-brown colour

Example: ‘her eyes were light green and flecked with gold’;

coins or other articles made of gold

Example: ‘her ankles and wrists were glinting with gold’;

money in large sums; wealth

Example: ‘he proved to be a rabid seeker for gold and power’;

something considered to be precious, beautiful, or of the most superior quality

Example: ‘they scout continents in search of the new green gold’;

short for gold medal

Example: ‘she claimed she was robbed of a gold’;

the bullseye of an archery target.

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum) and atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. In a pure form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal.