| English Dictionary |
HIGH
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does high mean?
• HIGH (noun)
The noun HIGH has 7 senses:
1. a lofty level or position or degree
2. an air mass of higher than normal pressure
3. a state of sustained elation
4. a state of altered consciousness induced by alcohol or narcotics
5. a high place
6. a public secondary school usually including grades 9 through 12
7. a forward gear with a gear ratio that gives the greatest vehicle velocity for a given engine speed
Familiarity information: HIGH used as a noun is common.
• HIGH (adjective)
The adjective HIGH has 7 senses:
1. greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
2. (literal meaning) being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension (sometimes used in combinations like 'knee-high')
3. standing above others in quality or position
4. used of sounds and voices; high in pitch or frequency
5. happy and excited and energetic
6. (used of the smell of meat) smelling spoiled or tainted
7. slightly and pleasantly intoxicated from alcohol or a drug (especially marijuana)
Familiarity information: HIGH used as an adjective is common.
• HIGH (adverb)
The adverb HIGH has 4 senses:
1. at a great altitude
2. in or to a high position, amount, or degree
3. in a rich manner
4. far up toward the source
Familiarity information: HIGH used as an adverb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A lofty level or position or degree
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Context example:
summer temperatures reached an all-time high
Hypernyms ("high" is a kind of...):
degree; grade; level (a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality)
Antonym:
low (a low level or position or degree)
Derivation:
high ((literal meaning) being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension (sometimes used in combinations like 'knee-high'))
Sense 2
Meaning:
An air mass of higher than normal pressure
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Context example:
the east coast benefits from a Bermuda high
Hypernyms ("high" is a kind of...):
air mass (a large body of air with uniform characteristics horizontally)
Holonyms ("high" is a part of...):
anticyclone ((meteorology) winds spiraling outward from a high pressure center; circling clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A state of sustained elation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Context example:
I'm on a permanent high these days
Hypernyms ("high" is a kind of...):
elation (an exhilarating psychological state of pride and optimism; an absence of depression)
Antonym:
low spirits (a state of mild depression)
Derivation:
high (happy and excited and energetic)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A state of altered consciousness induced by alcohol or narcotics
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Context example:
they took drugs to get a high on
Hypernyms ("high" is a kind of...):
elation (an exhilarating psychological state of pride and optimism; an absence of depression)
Derivation:
high (slightly and pleasantly intoxicated from alcohol or a drug (especially marijuana))
Sense 5
Meaning:
A high place
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
heights; high
Context example:
he doesn't like heights
Hypernyms ("high" is a kind of...):
place; spot; topographic point (a point located with respect to surface features of some region)
Derivation:
high ((literal meaning) being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension (sometimes used in combinations like 'knee-high'))
Sense 6
Meaning:
A public secondary school usually including grades 9 through 12
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Synonyms:
high; high school; highschool; senior high; senior high school
Context example:
he goes to the neighborhood highschool
Hypernyms ("high" is a kind of...):
Gymnasium; lycee; lyceum; middle school; secondary school (a school for students intermediate between elementary school and college; usually grades 9 to 12)
Sense 7
Meaning:
A forward gear with a gear ratio that gives the greatest vehicle velocity for a given engine speed
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
high; high gear
Hypernyms ("high" is a kind of...):
gear; gear mechanism (a mechanism for transmitting motion for some specific purpose (as the steering gear of a vehicle))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "high"):
overdrive (a high gear used at high speeds to maintain the driving speed with less output power)
Holonyms ("high" is a part of...):
auto; automobile; car; machine; motorcar (a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: highest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Greater than normal in degree or intensity or amount
Context example:
he has a high opinion of himself
Similar:
soaring (ascending to a level markedly higher than the usual)
last; utmost (highest in extent or degree)
higher (advanced in complexity or elaboration)
higher (of education beyond the secondary level)
graduate; postgraduate (of or relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree)
broad; full (being at a peak or culminating point)
advanced (at a higher level in training or knowledge or skill)
Also:
superior (of or characteristic of high rank or importance)
Attribute:
degree; grade; level (a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality)
Antonym:
low (less than normal in degree or intensity or amount)
Derivation:
highness (a high degree (of amount or force etc.))
Sense 2
Meaning:
(literal meaning) being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension (sometimes used in combinations like 'knee-high')
Context example:
a foot high
Similar:
altitudinous (indefinitely high; lofty)
commanding; dominating; overlooking (used of a height or viewpoint)
eminent; lofty; soaring; towering (of imposing height; especially standing out above others)
high-altitude; high-level (occurring at or from a relative high altitude)
high-stepped; high-stepping (having or moving with a high step)
high-top; high-topped ((of shoes or boots) having relatively high uppers)
steep (of a slope; set at a high angle)
upper (higher in place or position)
Also:
up (being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level)
top (situated at the top or highest position)
tall (great in vertical dimension; high in stature)
Attribute:
height; tallness (the vertical dimension of extension; distance from the base of something to the top)
Antonym:
low (literal meanings; being at or having a relatively small elevation or upward extension)
Derivation:
high (a lofty level or position or degree)
high (a high place)
highness (the quality of being high or lofty)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Standing above others in quality or position
Synonyms:
eminent; high
Context example:
eminent members of the community
Similar:
superior (of or characteristic of high rank or importance)
Derivation:
highness (a high degree (of amount or force etc.))
Sense 4
Meaning:
Used of sounds and voices; high in pitch or frequency
Synonyms:
high; high-pitched
Similar:
adenoidal; nasal; pinched (sounding as if the nose were pinched)
tenor ((of a musical instrument) intermediate between alto and baritone or bass)
tenor (of or close in range to the highest natural adult male voice)
sopranino (higher in range than soprano)
soprano; treble (having or denoting a high range)
screaky; screechy; squeaking; squeaky; squealing (having or making a high-pitched sound such as that made by a mouse or a rusty hinge)
sharp; shrill (having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones)
peaky; spiky (having or as if having especially high-pitched spots)
falsetto (artificially high; above the normal voice range)
alto; countertenor (of or being the highest male voice; having a range above that of tenor)
alto ((of a musical instrument) second highest member of a group)
altissimo (very high)
Attribute:
pitch (the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration)
Antonym:
low (used of sounds and voices; low in pitch or frequency)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Happy and excited and energetic
Synonyms:
high; in high spirits
Similar:
elated (exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits)
Derivation:
high (a state of sustained elation)
Sense 6
Meaning:
(used of the smell of meat) smelling spoiled or tainted
Synonyms:
Similar:
ill-smelling; malodorous; malodourous; stinky; unpleasant-smelling (having an unpleasant smell)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Slightly and pleasantly intoxicated from alcohol or a drug (especially marijuana)
Synonyms:
high; mellow
Similar:
drunk; gone; inebriated; intoxicated; ripped (stupefied or excited by a chemical substance (especially alcohol))
Derivation:
high (a state of altered consciousness induced by alcohol or narcotics)
Sense 1
Meaning:
At a great altitude
Synonyms:
high; high up
Context example:
he climbed high on the ladder
Sense 2
Meaning:
In or to a high position, amount, or degree
Context example:
prices have gone up far too high
Sense 3
Meaning:
In a rich manner
Synonyms:
high; luxuriously; richly
Context example:
he lives high
Sense 4
Meaning:
Far up toward the source
Context example:
he lives high up the river
Context examples
It may be found at high levels in the urine when there are kidney problems.
(AAP, NCI Dictionary)
In a place or position that is higher.
(Above, NCI Thesaurus)
High relative heart weight in 10-week old males (20/23).
(A28807, Rat Strain, NCI Thesaurus)
It was three storeys high, of proportions not vast, though considerable: a gentleman's manor-house, not a nobleman's seat: battlements round the top gave it a picturesque look.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east of London Bridge.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Yes; but I mean high school, and lectures, and the university.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
A great viaduct runs across, with high piers, through which the view seems somehow further away than it really is.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
This was the third highest for March in the 1880–2015 record.
(March 2015 and first quarter of year warmest on record, NOAA)
Again the inoffensive one plunging desperately, was elevated high into the air.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
That's lower than auroras on Earth, which range from 100 km to 500 km high.
(Auroras on Mars, NASA)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them." (Native American proverb, Arapaho)
"Lamb in the spring, snow in the winter." (Armenian proverb)
"May problems with neighbors last only as long as snow in March." (Corsican proverb)