# high

Pronunciation: say "HY" /haɪ/

## Adjective

1. Great in amount, level or intensity; of food or water, containing a lot of a stated substance ('high in iron').
   - Simple: Large in amount or strong in degree, or containing a lot of something, as in high in sugar.
   - _Unemployment is high in the valley._
   - _Winds were high all night along the coast._
2. Of great height, extending far upward or situated far above the ground.
   - Simple: Reaching far up from the ground, tall, or far above the ground.
   - _The shelves are too high for the children._
   - _They climbed to a high ledge and rested._
3. Of a feature or level, raised above what is normal or average for its kind.
   - Simple: Placed or rising above the usual level, as in a high collar or high cheekbones.
   - _The shirt has a high collar that covers most of her neck._
   - _He has a high hairline for a man of thirty._
4. Elevated in rank, status or importance; chief, as in titles such as High Commissioner or high priest.
   - Simple: Important or powerful, with a top position, and also used in titles like 'High Court'.
   - _He rose to high rank in the navy._
   - _After years of service, the ambassador was promoted to a high office in the ministry._
12. Intoxicated or under the influence of a drug, now usually cannabis or something stronger. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Under the effect of a drug, especially cannabis, an informal use.
   - _She has never been high in her life._
   - _The smoke left everyone in the car slightly high._
6. Of a quality or moment, at its fullest or utmost point.
   - Simple: At its fullest or strongest point, as in high noon, high summer, high tide.
   - _By high summer the river had dried to a trickle._
   - _The house is a fine example of the high Victorian style._
10. Of a stated height, with the measurement placed before the word.
   - Simple: Of a stated height, as in three feet high.
   - _The waves were thirty feet high._
   - _A pile of books a foot high sat on the desk._
13. Of a sound or voice, acute in pitch, of greater frequency and toward the top of the scale.
   - Simple: Of a sound, with a pitch near the top of the range, like a whistle or a soprano.
   - _Dogs can hear sounds too high for us._
   - _Her voice went high with excitement._
11. Advanced, abstract or lofty in content, and so hard to follow.
   - Simple: Hard to understand because it is advanced or abstract, as in high thinking.
   - _His sermons were too high for the farmers in the pews._
   - _Her seminar on high theory left most of the first-year students lost._
15. Elevated in mood; merry or excited, mostly in set phrases.
   - Simple: Full of cheer or excitement, as in high spirits.
   - _She came home in high spirits after the interview._
   - _Spirits were high in the locker room after the win._
16. Of great importance and consequence, grave or solemn, especially in set legal and religious phrases.
   - Simple: Very serious or important, as in high crimes or a high festival.
   - _The charge was high treason._
   - _They kept the high feast with candles and song._
17. Of a way of living, luxurious and expensive in its pleasures.
   - Simple: Of a way of living, luxurious and expensive, as in the high life.
   - _After the lottery win came a year of high living._
   - _He had a weakness for the high life._
19. Lofty in manner, proud to the point of haughtiness or boastfulness.
   - Simple: Proud and grand in manner, often too much so, as in a high tone.
   - _Don't get all high and mighty with me just because you got promoted._
   - _The letter was written in a high and haughty style._
20. With on or about, keen, enthusiastic or favorably disposed toward something or someone.
   - Simple: Keen on something, enthusiastic about it, as in high on the idea.
   - _Critics were high on the film before it opened._
   - _The coach is very high on the new quarterback._
22. In card games, greater in value or rank than other cards, denominations, or suits; in poker, being the top card of a straight or flush, as in queen high.
   - Simple: In card games, worth more than other cards, or being the top card in a poker hand like a straight.
   - _Before dealing, we agreed that aces would be high and twos low._
   - _Once the trumps were gone, her high clubs took the last three tricks._
25. Of a latitude or region, far from the equator and toward the poles.
   - Simple: Far from the equator, toward the North or South Pole, as in high latitudes.
   - _Reindeer range across the high latitudes of three continents._
   - _The high Arctic has no trees at all._
26. Of a body of water, running with tall waves, rough, the swell as the measure: the lake was too high for the little boats, a high sea running in the bay.
   - Simple: Of the sea or a lake, rough, with big waves running.
   - _With the sea this high, the lifeboat stayed in._
   - _High seas kept the fleet in port for a week._
27. Of meat, especially venison: strong-smelling and slightly spoiled, having begun to decompose.
   - Simple: Of meat, especially deer meat: starting to go bad and smelling strong.
   - _Some hunters let their venison hang until it is slightly high._
   - _After a week in the warm shed, the pheasants were too high to eat._
29. Showing firm ethical principles and worthy goals, and so deserving moral admiration.
   - Simple: Very good in a moral way, with strong ideas about what is right and good goals.
   - _The charity was founded with a high purpose: to make sure no child in the city went hungry._
   - _For all his high principles, the senator quietly took money from lobbyists._

## Noun

5. A highest point, level or amount reached, such as a peak of success or a day's maximum temperature.
   - Simple: The highest point or level reached, such as the warmest temperature of the day.
   - _Attendance hit a five-year high._
   - _Every career has its highs and its lows._
9. Short for high school: informally, a secondary school, especially in names such as Lincoln High, or the years spent there. *(colloquial)* — Ellipsis of high school.
   - Simple: Short for high school: informally, a school for teenagers, mostly in names like Lincoln High, or the years spent there.
   - _She teaches math at Ridgeview High, across town from her old school._
   - _She was the fastest runner at Central High in her senior year._
14. A spell of euphoria, whether from excitement or from a drug.
   - Simple: A period of feeling very happy or excited, from an event or from a drug.
   - _The team rode the high of the cup win for weeks._
   - _Runners talk about the high that comes after a long race._
18. In meteorology, an anticyclone, a broad region of elevated atmospheric pressure.
   - Simple: In weather, a large area of high air pressure, which usually brings settled skies.
   - _Highs bring clear nights and frost in winter._
   - _The forecaster drew a big high across the map._
23. In card games, the top card dealt or drawn, as when players compare what they were given.
   - Simple: In card games, the highest card dealt or drawn, as when players cut for high.
   - _Before the first game we cut for high, and my uncle won the deal with an ace._
   - _To decide who would deal, we cut for high, and my uncle won it with a king._
24. A drug or other substance taken for the euphoria it brings; mostly used in the plural, as in legal highs.
   - Simple: A drug people take to feel very happy or excited, as in legal highs.
   - _The police seized several packets of legal highs from the back of the shop._
   - _No one knew what was in the latest legal high to hit the clubs._
28. The top setting on the control of a stove or other appliance or device, giving the greatest heat, power, or speed.
   - Simple: The strongest setting for heat, power, or speed on a stove, machine, or other device.
   - _Cook the stew on high for four hours, then switch the slow cooker to low._
   - _She set the blender to high and let it run until the soup was smooth._

## Adverb

7. At or to a great value, level or intensity.
   - Simple: At a high level or price, as in costs running high.
   - _He bet high and lost._
   - _The stakes were set high from the start._
8. In or to an elevated position, far above the ground or a base.
   - Simple: Far up, or up to a great height, as in fly high.
   - _By the time we set out, the sun had climbed high above the hills._
   - _She jumped high enough to clear the bar._
21. In singing, playing or speaking, at an acute pitch.
   - Simple: At a high pitch, as in sing high.
   - _Pitch it a little high and the children can follow._
   - _Our tenor can sing high with ease, but the low notes in this piece give him trouble._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) In soccer and similar games, of a player, line or press, positioned up the field toward the opponent's goal.
- (adjective) Of a baseball pitch, crossing the plate higher than the hitter's shoulders and so outside the strike zone.
- (adjective) Belonging to or spoken in the hillier or more mountainous part of a country, as in High German.
- (adjective) Taking a position to an extreme, now especially strongly traditional or conservative, as in High Church or high Tory.
- (adjective) Of a speech sound, made with the tongue raised close to the roof of the mouth, as in the vowels of beet and boot.
- (adjective) In card games, strong enough to win, such as a card that can take a trick.
- (adjective) Of a sailing vessel, heading close to the direction the wind is coming from.
- (verb) To go up or ascend.
- (verb) Variant spelling of hie, meaning to hurry or go quickly.

## Origin

From Middle English high, from Old English hēah ("high, tall, lofty, exalted"), going back through Proto-West Germanic *hauh and Proto-Germanic *hauhaz to the Proto-Indo-European root *kewk- ("to elevate, height"). It is related to Dutch hoog, German hoch, and Swedish hög.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/high (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).