old as the hills definition

English

Etymology

Possibly a reference to Job 15:7 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized):^[1] “Art thou the first man that was born? Or wast thou made before the hills?”^[2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊld əz‿ðə ˈhɪlz/

• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɪlz

Adjective

old as the hills (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, simile, chiefly hyperbolic) Extremely old.

   Synonyms: aged, age-old, ancient, old as the Pyramids, old as time, older than dirt, older than the Pyramids; see also Thesaurus:old

   • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “In Fashion”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, pages 6–7:

     His family is as old as the hills, and infinitely more respectable.

   • 1937, Aldous Huxley, “Social Reform and Violence”, in Ends and Means: An Inquiry into the Nature of Ideals and into the Methods Employed for Their Realization, London: Chatto & Windus, published 1957, →OCLC, page 25:

     A violent revolution cannot achieve anything except the inevitable results of violence, which are as old as the hills.

Alternative forms

• older than the hills

Translations

References