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highball definition

☆ high·ball (hī′bôl′)

noun

  1. liquor, usually whiskey or brandy, mixed with water, soda water, ginger ale, etc. and served with ice in a tall glass
  2. a railroad signal, originally a ball hung above the tracks, meaning “go ahead”: sometimes used figuratively

Etymology: highballsense < ? high + ball, bartender's slang for “whiskey glass”: infl. ? by the v.

intransitive verb

Slang to proceed at great speed

Etymology: < highball

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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