highball Hear it!

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

highball Synonyms

highball

n.

cocktail, beverage, alcoholic drink, long drink; see cocktail, drink 2.

highball Usage Examples

Converse of object

fill: Pour the mixture into a highball filled with ice.

Preposition: with

ice: Strain into a highball with ice and top up with ginger ale.

Modifies a noun

  • glass: What do you make of those three old guys sitting at the bar over there, hunched over their highball glasses?
  • problem: Oh Dude E4 6b A highball boulder problem up the thin wall left of Buzzard.
  • boulder: Oh Dude E4 6b A highball boulder problem up the thin wall left of Buzzard.