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high definition

high ()

adjective

  1. of more than normal height; lofty; tall: not used of persons
  2. extending upward a (specified) distance
  3. situated far above the ground or some other level
  4. reaching to or done from a height a high jump, a high dive
    1. above other persons or things in rank, position, strength, etc.; most important or powerful
    2. above other persons or things in quality, character, etc.; superior; exalted; excellent
  5. grave; very serious high treason
  6. greatly advanced or developed; complex: usually in the comparative degree higher mathematics, the higher vertebrates
  7. main; principal; chief a high priest
  8. greater in size, amount, degree, power, intensity, etc. than usual high prices, high voltage, a high profile
  9. advanced to its acme or fullness; fully reached high noon
  10. expensive; costly
  11. luxurious and extravagant high living
  12. haughty; overbearing
  13. designating or producing tones made by relatively fast vibrations; acute in pitch; sharp; shrill
  14. slightly tainted; having a strong smell: said of meat, esp. game
  15. extremely formal or rigid in matters of ceremony, doctrine, etc.
  16. excited; elated high spirits
  17. far from the equator a high latitude
  18. ☆ designating or of that gear ratio of a motor vehicle transmission which produces the highest speed and the lowest torque
  19. Slang
    1. drunk; intoxicated
    2. under the influence of a drug
  20. Phonet. articulated with the tongue held in a relatively elevated position in the mouth: said of certain vowels, as (ē) in feet

Etymology: ME heigh, hei, hie < OE heah, akin to Ger hoch, Goth hauhs < IE *keuk- < base *keu-, to curve, arch > Sans kakúd-, peak, Russ kúča, heap

adverb

  1. in a high manner
  2. in, at, to, or toward a high degree, level, place, position, etc.

noun

  1. a high degree, level, place, position, etc.
  2. ☆ an area of high barometric pressure
  3. ☆ that gear of a motor vehicle, etc. producing the greatest speed and the lowest torque
  4. Slang a condition of euphoria induced as by drugs
high Idioms

high and dry

  1. out of the reach of the water
  2. alone and helpless; stranded

high and low

everywhere

high and mighty

Informal arrogant; haughty

high on

Informal enthusiastic about; very interested in or impressed by

on high

  1. up in space; high above
  2. in heaven

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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