Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - high

(higher, highest, highs) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. 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. ...high-heeled shoes... The gate was too high for a man of his age to climb. ? low ADJ • High is also an adverb. ...wagons packed high with bureaus, bedding, and cooking pots. ADV: ADV after v 2. 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... Measure your garage: how high is the door? ADJ: amount ADJ, n ADJ, how ADJ, as ADJ as, ADJ-compar than 3. 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... In Castel Molo, high above Taormina, you can sample the famous almond wine made there. ? low ADJ: oft ADJ prep • High is also an adverb. ...being able to run faster or jump higher than other people. ADV: ADV after v • If something is high up, it is a long way above the ground, above sea level, or above a person or thing. We saw three birds circling very high up. PHRASE: oft PHR prep 4. 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... Commercialisation has given many sports a higher profile. ? low ADJ • High is also an adverb. He expects the unemployment figures to rise even higher in coming months. ADV: ADV after v • 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. ? low PHRASE 5. 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. ? low ADJ: v-link ADJ in n 6. 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. ? low N-COUNT: oft N of amount 7. 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. ? low ADJ: oft ADJ on n 8. 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?... ...corruption in high places. ADJ: v-link ADJ in n, ADJ 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... PHRASE: oft PHR in n 9. You can use high to describe something that is advanced or complex. Neither Anna nor I are interested in high finance. ADJ: ADJ n 10. 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... ADV: ADV after v 11. 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. ? low ADJ 12. If the quality or standard of something is high, it is very good indeed. His team were of the highest calibre... ADJ 13. If someone has high principles, they are morally good. He was a man of the highest principles. ADJ: usu ADJ n 14. A high sound or voice is close to the top of a particular range of notes. Her high voice really irritated Maria. ? low ADJ 15. 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. ? low ADJ 16. 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. ? low ADJ 17. 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. ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ on n 18. A high is a feeling or mood of great excitement or happiness. (INFORMAL) N-COUNT 19. 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. PHRASE: usu from PHR 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. Schools with better reputations will be flooded with applications while poorer schools will be left high and dry. PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR c darkgreen]emphasis 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. PHRASE: oft PHR of n 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. PHRASE: PHR after v c darkgreen]emphasis 23. in high dudgeon: see dudgeon come hell or high water: see hell to be high time: see time -HIGH -high combines with words such as ‘knee’ or ‘shoulder’ to indicate that someone or something reaches as high as the point that is mentioned. The grass was knee-high. COMB in ADJ