high (higher comparative) (highest superlative) (highs plural )
1 adj 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., (Antonym: low)
...a house, with a high wall all around it...
2 adj 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...
3 adj If something is high, it is a long way above the ground, above sea level, or above a person or thing., (Antonym: low)
I looked down from the high window...
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high up phrase
We saw three birds circling very high up.
4 adj You can use high to indicate that something is great in amount, degree, or intensity., (Antonym: low)
The European country with the highest birth rate is Ireland...
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the high 70s/80s/90s phrase
(Antonym: low)
5 adj If a food or other substance is high in a particular ingredient, it contains a large amount of that ingredient., (Antonym: low)
Don't indulge in rich sauces, fried food and thick pastry as these are high in fat.
6 n-count If something reaches a high of a particular amount or degree, that is the greatest it has ever been., (Antonym: low)
Traffic from Jordan to Iraq is down to a dozen loaded lorries a day, compared with a high of 200 a day...
7 adj 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., (Antonym: low)
The Labour Party has not made the issue a high priority...
8 adj 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?...
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high up phrase
His cousin is somebody quite high up in the navy...
9 adj You can use high to describe something that is advanced or complex.
Neither Anna nor I are interested in high finance.
10 adv 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...
11 adj 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., (Antonym: low)
She has always had a high reputation for her excellent short stories...
12 adj If the quality or standard of something is high, it is very good indeed.
His team were of the highest calibre...
13 adj If someone has high principles, they are morally good.
He was a man of the highest principles.
14 adj A high sound or voice is close to the top of a particular range of notes., (Antonym: low)
Her high voice really irritated Maria.
15 adj When a river is high, it contains much more water than usual., (Antonym: low)
The waters of the Yangtze River are dangerously high for the time of year.
16 adj If your spirits are high, you feel happy and excited., (Antonym: low)
Her spirits were high with the hope of seeing Nick in minutes rather than hours.
17 adj 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 If you say that something came from on high, you mean that it came from a person or place of great authority.
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on high phrase
Orders had come from on high that extra care was to be taken during this week.
20 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.
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be left high and dry phrase
(emphasis)
Schools with better reputations will be flooded with applications while poorer schools will be left high and dry.
21 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.
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highs and lows phrase
22 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.
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look high and low phrase
(emphasis)
23
→
in high dudgeon
→
dudgeon
→
come hell or high water
→
hell
→
to be high time
→
time
