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time noun ( HISTORICAL PERIOD )
/taɪm/ n Definition
[C] (also times) a period in history
Charles Dickens' novel "A Tale of Two Cities" is set at the time of the French Revolution.
In/During medieval times, women thought to be witches were burnt at the stake.
In times gone by, all crops were harvested by hand.
Times were hard (= The conditions of life were uncomfortable) when I was a boy.
He is widely regarded as one of the best writers of modern/our times (= the present or very recent past).
I never thought it would happen in my time (= before I died).
We sat and talked about old times (= things that had happened to us in the past.)
at one time (also times)
in the past
At one time, George Eliot lived here.
ahead of your time (UK also before your time)
having new ideas, opinions or ways of living long before most other people do
before your time
If something or someone is before your time, they happened or existed before you were born or were old enough to remember them
I don't remember The Beatles - they were before my time.
See also ahead of your time
time was
said to mean that there was a period in the past when something used to happen or be true
Time was (when) you could buy a loaf of bread for sixpence.
(Definition of time noun (HISTORICAL PERIOD) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
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