Definition

1. Noun:
   • (slang) boss: An informal term for a person in charge, especially a supervisor or employer.
   • Aromatic herb: The common wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), a bitter-tasting plant used in flavoring absinthe.
   • An informal term for your father: A casual, sometimes affectionate, way to refer to one's own father.
   • A familiar term of address for a man: A colloquial, often friendly, way to directly address a male acquaintance.
   • A man who is very old: A straightforward description of an elderly male.

Usage Examples

• Noun (slang: boss):
  • I need to check with the old man before I can approve your time off.
• Noun (herb):
  • The key ingredient in traditional absinthe is old man, or wormwood.
• Noun (informal: father):
  • I'm going fishing with my old man this weekend.
• Noun (term of address):
  • Hey, old man, how have you been?
• Noun (elderly man):
  • The old man sat on the bench, feeding the pigeons.

Advanced Usage

• "the old man of the sea": A burdensome or inescapable person or problem (from a character in ).
  • That persistent debt has become the old man of the sea for our company.
• Used to personify an institution or tradition, implying age and established authority.
  • The university, that old man of learning, has stood for eight centuries.

Variants and Related Words

• Old boy: A similar informal term of address for a man or a former pupil of a school.
• Old lady: The corresponding informal slang for one's wife, girlfriend, or mother.

Synonyms

• Boss: chief, governor, guv'nor (slang).
• Father: dad, pop, pa.
• Elderly man: elder, senior, graybeard.

Related Phrases

• Old man's beard: A name for several plants, notably clematis or lichen, with beard-like growth.
• Old man winter: A personification of winter.
  • Old man winter has arrived with a blast of cold air.

Related Idioms

• Dirty old man: A disapproving term for an older man perceived as having lecherous intentions.
  • He was staring at the young women in a way that made him look like a dirty old man.
• Play the old man: To act in a miserly or stingy way.
  • Don't play the old man; it's your turn to buy a round of drinks.

Noun

1. (slang) boss
2. aromatic herb of temperate Eurasia and North Africa having a bitter taste used in making the liqueur absinthe
3. an informal term for your father
4. a familiar term of address for a man
5. a man who is very old