- high
- [[t]ha͟ɪ[/t]]
♦higher, highest, highs1) ADJ-GRADED Something that is high extends a long way from the bottom to the top when it is upright. You do not use high to describe people, animals, or plants.
...a house, with a high wall all around it...
Mount Marcy is the highest mountain in the Adirondacks.
...distraught people who have threatened to jump from high buildings.
...high-heeled shoes...
The gate was too high for a man of his age to climb.
Ant:ADV-GRADED: ADV after vHigh is also an adverb....wagons packed high with bureaus, bedding, and cooking pots.
2) ADJ: amount ADJ, n ADJ, how ADJ, as ADJ as, ADJ-compar than You use high to talk or ask about how much something upright measures from the bottom to the top....an elegant bronze horse only nine inches high...
The grass in the yard was waist high...
Measure your garage: how high is the door?
3) ADJ-GRADED: oft ADJ prep If something is high, it is a long way above the ground, above sea level, or above a person or thing.I looked down from the high window...
The bridge was high, jacked up on wooden piers...
The sun was high in the sky, blazing down on us...
In Castel Molo, high above Taormina, you can sample the famous almond wine made there.
Ant:●PHRASE: oft PHR prep If something is high up, it is a long way above the ground, above sea level, or above a person or thing.His farm was high up in the hills.
...grapes grown high up on the cliff...
We saw three birds circling very high up.
Ant:low downADV-GRADED: ADV after vHigh is also an adverb....being able to run faster or jump higher than other people.
4) ADJ-GRADED You can use high to indicate that something is great in amount, degree, or intensity.The European country with the highest birth rate is Ireland...
Official reports said casualties were high...
The higher the risk of lending money, the higher is the interest rate demanded by the lenders...
High winds have knocked down trees and power lines...
Commercialisation has given many sports a higher profile.
Ant:●PHRASE You can use phrases such as `in the high 80s' to indicate that a number or level is, for example, more than 85 but not as much as 90.Ant:ADV-GRADED: ADV after vHigh is also an adverb.He expects the unemployment figures to rise even higher in coming months.
5) ADJ-GRADED: v-link ADJ in n If a food or other substance is high in a particular ingredient, it contains a large amount of that ingredient.Don't indulge in rich sauces, fried food and thick pastry as these are high in fat.
...a superb compost, high in calcium.
Ant:6) N-COUNT: oft N of amount If something reaches a high of a particular amount or degree, that is the greatest it has ever been.Traffic from Jordan to Iraq is down to a dozen loaded lorries a day, compared with a high of 200 a day...
Sales of Russian vodka have reached an all-time high.
Ant:7) ADJ-GRADED: oft ADJ on n If you say that something is a high priority or is high on your list, you mean that you consider it to be one of the most important things you have to do or deal with.The Labour Party has not made the issue a high priority...
Economic reform is high on the agenda.
Ant:8) ADJ-GRADED: v-link ADJ in n, ADJ n Someone who is high in a particular profession or society, or has a high position, has a very important position and has great authority and influence.Was there anyone particularly high in the administration who was an advocate of a different policy?...
Every single one of the arms companies is controlled by the families of high officials.
...corruption in high places.
...high social class.
●PHRASE: oft PHR in n Someone who is high up in a profession or society has a very important position.His cousin is somebody quite high up in the navy...
You've offended somebody very high up.
9) ADJ: ADJ n You can use high to describe something that is advanced or complex.Neither Anna nor I are interested in high finance.
...the rise of Japan's high technology industries.
10) ADV-GRADED: ADV after v If you aim high, you try to obtain or to achieve the best that you can.You should not be afraid to aim high in the quest for an improvement in your income...
We just do not set our sights high enough.
11) ADJ-GRADED If someone has a high reputation, or people have a high opinion of them, people think they are very good in some way, for example at their work.She has always had a high reputation for her excellent short stories...
People have such high expectations of you.
Ant:12) ADJ-GRADED If the quality or standard of something is high, it is very good indeed.This is high quality stuff...
His team were of the highest calibre...
Schools award scholarships for high academic achievement.
13) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n If someone has high principles, they are morally good.He was a man of the highest principles.
14) ADJ-GRADED A high sound or voice is close to the top of a particular range of notes.Her high voice really irritated Maria.
Ant:15) ADJ-GRADED When a river is high, it contains much more water than usual.The waters of the Yangtze River are dangerously high for the time of year.
Ant:16) ADJ-GRADED If your spirits are high, you feel happy and excited.Her spirits were high with the hope of seeing Nick in minutes rather than hours.
Ant:17) ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ on n If someone is high on drink or drugs, they are affected by the alcoholic drink or drugs they have taken. [INFORMAL]He was too high on drugs and alcohol to remember them.
18) N-COUNT A high is a feeling or mood of great excitement or happiness. [INFORMAL]19) PHRASE: usu from PHR If you say that something came from on high, you mean that it came from a person or place of great authority.Orders had come from on high that extra care was to be taken during this week.
20) PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR (emphasis) If you say that you were left high and dry, you are emphasizing that you were left in a difficult situation and were unable to do anything about it.Schools with better reputations will be flooded with applications while poorer schools will be left high and dry.
21) PHRASE: oft PHR of n If you refer to the highs and lows of someone's life or career, you are referring to both the successful or happy times, and the unsuccessful or bad times.Syn:ups and downs22) PHRASE: PHR after v (emphasis) If you say that you looked high and low for something, you are emphasizing that you looked for it in every place that you could think of.
English dictionary. 2008.
