high

Etymology 1

From Middle English high, heigh, heih, from Old English hēah (“high, tall, lofty, high-class, exalted, sublime, illustrious, important, proud, haughty, deep, right”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauh (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz (“high”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewk- (“to elevate, height”). Cognate with Scots heich (“high”), Saterland Frisian hooch (“high”), West Frisian heech (“high”), Dutch hoog (“high”), Low German hoog (“high”), German hoch (“high”), Swedish hög (“high”), Norwegian høy (“high”), Icelandic hár (“high”), Lithuanian kaukas (“bump, boil, sore”), Russian ку́ча (kúča, “pile, heap, stack, lump”).

adj

1. Physically elevated, extending above a base or average level:
   1. Very elevated; extending or being far above a base; tall; lofty.
      The balloon rose high in the sky. The wall was high. a high mountain
      The Chitistone River Valley offers a more direct route for travel from McCarthy to the White River and the Shushana gold placers than Skolai Creek, but it involves a high climb over the so-called “goat trail” to avoid the canyon above Chitistone[.] 1930, Philip Sidney Smith, Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1928 and Administration Report
      Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth. 2013-06-07, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36
   2. Relatively elevated; rising or raised above the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
      She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive. 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
      A nightgown with a high neck and long sleeves may have the fullness set into a yoke. 1919, Martha Van Rensselaer, Flora Rose, Helen Canon, A Manual of Home-Making, page 376
   3. (baseball, of a ball) Above the batter's shoulders.
      the pitch (or: the ball) was high
   4. Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a greater elevation, for example more mountainous, than other regions.
2. Having a specified elevation or height; tall.
   three feet high three Mount Everests high
   I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
3. Elevated in status, esteem, or prestige, or in importance or development; exalted in rank, station, or character.
   1. Most exalted; foremost.
      the high priest, the high officials of the court, the high altar
   2. Of great importance and consequence: grave (if negative) or solemn (if positive).
      high crimes, the high festival of the sun
   3. Consummate; advanced (e.g. in development) to the utmost extent or culmination, or possessing a quality in its supreme degree, at its zenith.
      high (i.e. intense) heat; high (i.e. full or quite) noon; high (i.e. rich or spicy) seasoning; high (i.e. complete) pleasure; high (i.e. deep or vivid) colour; high (i.e. extensive, thorough) scholarship; high tide; high [tourism] season; the High Middle Ages
      1709-1710, Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning High sauces and rich spices are fetch'd from the Indies.
   4. Advanced in complexity (and hence potentially abstract and/or difficult to comprehend).
      Plain living and high thinking are no more. 1802, William Wordsworth, England 1802
4. (of an opinion or practice, obsolete outside set phrases) Extreme, excessive; now specifically very traditionalist and conservative.
   high church High Tory
   Furder, what wil you answeare for your keping a daye, cessation &c to St. Michael & al Angells? how wil you excuse your self of most high idolatrie, advancing your self in thinges you neuer sawe, rashlie puffed vp of your fleshlie minde, and not holding the heade, depriuing others of their Crowne? 1591, Henry Barrow, A Plaine Refutation of M. G. Giffardes reprochful booke[…], page 33
   The letter of a "Pioneer" was sent to the Chronicle office by a very respectable man, of a high conservative family, but whose interests have been injuriously affected by the constant fluctuations in the commercial policy of England. 1858, Joseph Howe, Speeches and Public Letters, page 346
   His family was ardently royalist, and might be compared to a high Tory family on this side the water; with some change of conditions, their prejudices and disposition of the mind were the same. 1875, Henry Reeve, “Introductory Notice”, in Alexis de Tocqueville, translated by Henry Reeve, Democracy in America, page xvi
   My father was the youngest son of a High-Church and high Tory family, the politically leftwing and religiously Nonconformist rebel; and antiimperialist who nearly lost his position in the City by refusing to sign his firm's pro–Boer War petition. 2005, Jesse D. Geller, John C. Norcross, David E. Orlinsky, The Psychotherapist's Own Psychotherapy, Oxford University Press, page 69
5. Elevated in mood; marked by great merriment, excitement, etc.
   in high spirits
   1970, Grateful Dead, High Time, on the album Workingman's Dead I was having a high time, living the good life.
6. (of a lifestyle) Luxurious; rich.
   high living, the high life
   I was living the high lifestyle in famous sex clubs, relaxing on luxurious sofas, in the saunas and whirlpools, enjoying moments of excitement with my male and female companions while sipping champagne from crystal glasses. 2010, Rose Maria McCarthy Anding., High Heels, Honey Lips, & White Powder
7. Lofty, often to the point of arrogant, haughty, boastful, proud.
   a high tone
8. (with "on" or "about") Keen, enthused.
   Conversely, just because I am not high on positivity, it does not mean I am necessarily high on negativity. 2016, David Chan, Enabling Positive Attitudes and Experiences in Singapore, page 140
   I'm not that high about the relationship. 2010, Lena, quoted by S. Rosenbloom, The Multiracial Urban High School: Fearing Peers and Trusting Friends, chapter four
9. (of a body of water) With tall waves.
   The sea is as high as ever. I shouldn't think any boat could put out today. 1939, Agatha Christie, chapter 11, in And Then There Were None
10. Remote (to the north or south) from the equator; situated at (or constituting) a latitude which is expressed by a large number.
    high latitude, fish species in high arctic and antarctic areas
    But other euphausiids, Euphausia crystallorophias, are found in the pack ice region of the high Antarctic as food of Blue and Minke Whales (Marr, 1956). E. vallentini is very important in the lower Antarctic region, around […] 1966, Symposium on Antarctic Oceanography: Papers, page 242
    We predict that L. arctica will coincide with the whole reindeer-caribou distribution, probably excepted Svalbard, South Georgia and other high-polar areas. 1990, International Union of Game Biologists, Transactions, the XIXth IUGB Congress: Population dynamics, Congress, page 219
    […] petrels, which breed primarily in the high Antarctic, the Rauer Islands are fairly central in their breeding distribution. This study documents the breeding biology of these four species of fulmarine petrels on Hop Island, Rauer Islands during […] 1999, Peter John Hodum, Foraging Ecology and Reproductive Energetics of Antarctic Fulmarine Petrels, page 8
    Except for some lithodid crabs that have recently been found in the Antarctic Bellingshausen Sea (Klages et al., 1995; Arana and Retamal, 2000), reptants are not known from high polar areas, where water temperature at the seafloor drops permanently below about 0°C. 2004, Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung, volumes 481-483, page 1
    This study also analyzed the sources of variations over an environmental gradient extending from low (subtropical) to high (sub-Antarctic) latitudes. 2007, Zoological Studies, volume 46, iissues 1-3, page 371
11. Large, great (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
    My bank charges me a high interest rate.
    I was running a high temperature and had high cholesterol.
    high voltage high prices high winds a high number
    Can heavenly minds such high resentment show?
    The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail. 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist
    Ignition voltage needs to be high enough to overcome the high resistance created by the air gap. 2005, Tracy Martin, How To Diagnose and Repair Automotive Electrical Systems, page 16
    Anyone can determine for himself whether certain wire is high carbon or not. Heat a piece of the wire red hot and while red plunge into water till cold. 1907, The American Exporter, volume 60, page 101
    1. Having a large or comparatively larger concentration of (a substance, which is often but not always linked by "in" when predicative).
       Carrots are high in vitamin A. made from a high-copper alloy
12. (acoustics) Acute or shrill in pitch, due to being of greater frequency, i.e. produced by more rapid vibrations (wave oscillations).
    The note was too high for her to sing.
13. (phonetics) Made with some part of the tongue positioned high in the mouth, relatively close to the palate.
14. (card games) Greater in value than other cards, denominations, suits, etc.
    1. (poker) Having the highest rank in a straight, flush or straight flush.
       I have KT742 of the same suit. In other words, a K-high flush.
       9-high straight = 98765 unsuited
       Royal Flush = AKQJT suited = A-high straight flush
    2. (of a card or hand) Winning; able to take a trick, win a round, etc.
       North's hand was high. East was in trouble.
       Cutler pushed forward the two necessary white chips. No one's hand was high, and Loomis made a slight winning. 1894, Harper's Magazine, volume 88, page 910
15. (of meat, especially venison) Strong-scented; slightly tainted/spoiled; beginning to decompose.
    Epicures do not cook game before it is high.
    The tailor liked his meat high.
    What he did know was this: something about the situation smelled wrong. Something about it smelled as high as dead fish that have spent three days in the hot sun. 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things
16. (informal) Intoxicated; under the influence of a mood-altering drug, formerly usually alcohol, but now (from the mid-20th century) usually not alcohol but rather marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.
    Three extremely high people showing up at the animal shelter like WE FOUND A DOG would be really funny, but... 2018, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), 3879: Pointy Boi
17. (nautical, of a sailing ship) Near, in its direction of travel, to the (direction of the) wind.
    NO NEARER! (arrive! Fr.) the command given by the pilot of quarter-master, to the helmsman, to steer the ship no higher to the direction of the wind than the sails will operate to advance the ship in her course. 1784, William Falconer, An Universal Dictionary of the Marine: Or, A Copious Explanation
18. (sports such as soccer) Positioned up the field, towards the opposing team's goal.
    Our defensive line is too high.

adv

1. In or to an elevated position.
   How high above land did you fly?
   The desks were piled high with magazines.
2. In or at a great value.
   Costs have grown higher this year again.
3. At a pitch of great frequency.
   I certainly can't sing that high.

noun

1. A high point or position, literally (as, an elevated place; a superior region; a height; the sky; heaven).or figuratively (as, a point of success or achievement; a time when things are at their best, greatest, most numerous, maximum, etc).
   It was one of the highs of his career.
   Inflation reached a ten-year high.
   South Korea has reached a new high in a kind of air pollution measured in fine dust. Audio (US) (file) 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
   1. The maximum atmospheric temperature recorded at a particular location, especially during one 24-hour period.
      Today's high was 32 °C.
2. A period of euphoria, from excitement or from an intake of drugs.
   They will have to reflect on a seventh successive defeat in a European final while Chelsea try to make sense of an eccentric season rife with controversy and bad feeling but once again one finishing on an exhilarating high. 15 May 2013, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian
   That pill gave me a high for a few hours, before I had a comedown.
3. A drug that gives such a high.
   No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again. 2013-08-10, “A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848
4. (meteorology, informal) A large area of elevated atmospheric pressure; an anticyclone.
   A large high is centred on the Azores.
5. (card games) The highest card dealt or drawn.

verb

1. (obsolete) To rise.
   The sun higheth.

Etymology 2

See hie.

verb

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of hie (“to hasten”)