ripe old age

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Phrase

ripe old age

1. (idiomatic, humorous) A very old age
   • 1959 February, G. Freeman Allen, “Southampton—Gateway to the Ocean”, in Trains Illustrated, page 91:

     [...] but two 1890 Hawthorn, Leslie engines, Clausentum and Ironside, lived to a ripe old age; the former was on Town Quay and Pier work until September, 1945, and the latter, ousted from the port, eked out an existence as shed pilot at Guildford until 1955.