youth

youth
youth S2 W2 /juːθ/ noun (plural youths /juːðz $ juːðz, juːθs/)1. [uncountable] the period of time when someone is young, especially the period when someone is a teenager ⇨ old age
    in sb’s youth
    Many of these people had used drugs in their youth.
  REGISTER
    In everyday English, people usually say when I was young, rather than saying in my youth:
   ▪ They were friends when they were young.
2. [countable] a teenage boy – used especially in newspapers to show disapproval:
    a gang of youths
3. [uncountable] young people in general
    the youth of something
    The youth of today are the pensioners of tomorrow.
4. [uncountable] the quality or state of being young
   OPP  age:
    Despite his youth, he had travelled alone.
    The cream will restore youth and vitality to your skin.
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs
   ▪ spend your youth She spent her youth in India.
   ▪ relive/recapture your youth (=do things you did when young, to try and experience youth again) The band’s fans are clearly reliving their youth. | The sports car is an attempt to recapture his youth.
■ phrases
   ▪ a misspent youth (=spent doing things that were bad or not useful) He is trying to make up for his misspent youth.
   ▪ your lost youth (=the time long ago when you were young) He wept for his lost youth.
   ▪ the days/dreams/friends etc of sb’s youth He had long ago forgotten the dreams of his youth.