Middle ___ (4 letters)

{ Answer }

AGES

{ Related Clues }

Eras
"Forever"
Periods
Ripens
"Rock of ___"
Actuaries' concerns
Jaques' septet
Jaques's heptad
A long time
Long time
Many moons
"Rock o ___"
School data
Seemingly forever
Shakespeare's seven
Years on end
Years and years
Consent and Reason, e.g.
Dating service data
Ever so long
Gets long in the tooth
"Now he belongs to the ___"
"Milton, a name to resound for ___": Tennyson

{ Tags }

ages, census, data, forever, gets, iron, jaques, long, many, matures, mellows, middle, periods, quite, ripens, rock, septet, stone, time, while, years

{ Notes }

The answer AGES is seen frequently, appearing about once every 60 puzzles.

{ Definition }

AGE as a noun:

1. how long something has existed; "it was replaced because of its age"

2. (historic period, age) = an era of history having some distinctive feature; "we live in a litigious age"

3. (age, eld) = a time in life (usually defined in years) at which some particular qualification or power arises; "she was now of school age"; "tall for his eld"

4. (old age, years, age, eld, geezerhood) = a late time of life; "old age is not for sissies"; "he's showing his years"; "age hasn't slowed him down at all"; "a beard white with eld"; "on the brink of geezerhood"

5. (long time, age, years) = a prolonged period of time; "we've known each other for ages"; "I haven't been there for years and years"

AGE as a verb:

1. begin to seem older; get older; "The death of his wife caused him to age fast"

2. (senesce, age, get on, mature, maturate) = grow old or older; "She aged gracefully"; "we age every day--what a depressing thought!"; "Young men senesce"

3. make older; "The death of his child aged him tremendously"