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View synonyms for donkey's years

donkey's years

noun

, Informal.
  1. a very long time; eons.


donkey's years

noun

  1. informal.
    a long time
“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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of donkey's years1

First recorded in 1895–1900; probably originally donkey('s) ears, as rhyming slang for years, with years replacing ears once the rhyming origin was forgotten
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Idioms and Phrases

A long time, as in I haven't seen her in donkey's years . This expression punningly alludes to the considerable length of the animal's ears. [Early 1900s]

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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.

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