"mid-teen" - Word of the Day from the OED

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mid-teen, n. and adj.

DRAFT ENTRY June 2010

Brit. /mdtin/, U.S. /mdtin/  Forms: 19- mid-'teen, 19- mid-teen. [< MID adj. + TEEN n.²] 

    A. n. In pl.

    1. The middle range of a series of years (of a person's age or of a century), temperatures, or monetary values numbered between thirteen and nineteen.

1954 William & Mary Q. 11 180 In the years immediately following the Union, imports averaged a mere 1,450,000 pounds per annum; this had only become 2,500,000 by the mid-'teens. 1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 9 Jan. B2 West Virginia: TodaySnow, highs in 20s, lows in mid teens. 1989 Milling & Baking News (Nexis) 16 May 1 As a group, their combined earnings growth rate is expected to be in the mid-teens this year. 1991 Euromoney Jan. 46/3 UK investment trusts trade at discounts to their book values, typically in the mid-teens. 2000 Guardian 11 Feb. (Friday Rev.) 6/3 The massive engineering project that brought water to LA from the Owens River Valley in the mid-teens.

    2. spec. The middle of a person's teenage years.

1964 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 51 234 In his mid-teens he moved to a nearby city. 1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 1 Sept. 43 A lower-middle class kid who..split from his parents in his mid-teens when they moved to California. 1996 Cycle Touring & Campaigning Apr.-May 59/1 By their mid-teens the majority of school bus users can't wait to get their hands on the keys to a personal set of wheels.

    B. adj.    Of or designating the mid-teens, esp. the middle teenage years; (of a person) in the mid-teens.

1979 Amer. Banker (Nexis) 25 June 3 A reacceleration of the annualized rate of growth from the midteen area to 20% to 25%. 1982 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 42 502 Slaves of both sexes in the mid-teen ages. 1988 K. LOGAN Paganism & Occult (BNC) 93 The otherwise lonely mid-teen years were made bearable with the presence of Terry. 1994 Guardian 16 Sept. (Friday section) 12/5 Three mid-teen brothers.

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