Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - year

~ n 1 12 MONTHS a period of about 365 days or 12 months, measured from any particular time  (I arrived here two years ago. | We've known each other for over a year. | 15 years old | a three-year development | a four-year-old child | tax/fiscal/financial year)  (The tax year begins in April. | school year (=period during a year when students are in school, university etc)) 2 »JANUARY TO DECEMBER« also calendar year a period of 365 or 366 days divided into 12 months beginning on January 1st and ending on December 31st  (the year that Martin Luther King died | Their lease expires at the end of the year. | 1995 was a profitable year. | the year 2000 | all (the) year round (=during the whole year)) 3 »MEASURE OF TIME« technical a measure of time equal to 3651/4 days, which is the amount of time it takes for the Earth to travel once around the sun 4 childhood/war/retirement etc years a particular period of time in someone's life or in history  (He started writing poetry during his Harvard years. | the boom years of the 1980's) 5 years a) informal many years  (in/for years)  (I haven't been there for years. | It's years since I rode a bike.) b) age, especially old age  (Gramps is very active for a man of his years. | getting on in years (=no longer young) | be 12/21 etc years of age (=12/21 etc years old)) 6 year by year as each year passes  (Year by year their business grew.) 7 year after year continuously for many years  (It's always the same, year after year.) 8 never/not in a million years spoken used to say strongly that you will never do something  (I won't forgive him - never in a million years.) 9 first/second etc year BrE someone who is in their first etc year at school or university 10 put years on sb/take years off sb to make someone look or feel older or younger  (Theresa's divorce has put years on her.)  (- see also donkey's years donkey (3), yearly) 11 the year dot BrE informal a very long time ago  (Scientists have been involved in war since the year dot.)