Height Definition & Meaning

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    • Synonyms height American [hahyt] / haɪt / Sometimes hight nonstandard, heighth

    noun

    1. extent or distance upward.

      The balloon stopped rising at a height of 500 feet.

      Antonyms: depth

    2. distance upward from a given level to a fixed point.

      the height from the ground to the first floor; the height of an animal at the shoulder.

      Antonyms: depth

    3. the distance between the lowest and highest points of a person standing upright; stature.

      She is five feet in height.

      Synonyms: tallness

    4. considerable or great altitude or elevation.

      the height of the mountains.

    5. Often heights

      1. a high place above a level; a hill or mountain.

        They stood on the heights overlooking the valley.

      2. the highest part; top; apex; summit.

        In his dreams he reached the heights.

      Synonyms: prominence

    6. the highest point; utmost degree.

      the height of power; the height of pleasure.

      Synonyms: culmination, zenith, acme, pinnacle, peak

    7. Archaic. high rank in social status.

    height British / haɪt /

    noun

    1. the vertical distance from the bottom or lowest part of something to the top or apex

    2. the vertical distance of an object or place above the ground or above sea level; altitude

    3. relatively great altitude or distance from the bottom to the top

    4. the topmost point; summit

    5. astronomy the angular distance of a celestial body above the horizon

    6. the period of greatest activity or intensity

      the height of the battle

    7. an extreme example of its kind

      the height of rudeness

    8. (often plural) an area of high ground

    9. (often plural) the state of being far above the ground

      I don't like heights

    10. (often plural) a position of influence, fame, or power

      the giddy heights they occupied in the 1980s

    "Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

    Spelling

    Height, and not heighth, is considered the standard English form for this word.

    Related Words

    Height, altitude, elevation refer to distance above a level. Height denotes extent upward (as from foot to head) as well as any measurable distance above a given level: The tree grew to a height of ten feet. They looked down from a great height. Altitude usually refers to the distance, determined by instruments, above a given level, commonly mean sea level: altitude of an airplane. Elevation implies a distance to which something has been raised or uplifted above a level: a hill's elevation above the surrounding country, above sea level.

    Etymology

    Origin of height

    First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hīehtho. See high, -th 1

    Example Sentences

    Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

    He had surgery in January 2013 - which he says allowed him to return to a "normal life" - but at the height of his illness, he was barely able to leave his own home.

    From BBC

    Issues that weren’t a problem when the home was built in 1974, such as its height and its closeness to the ocean, threw up roadblocks.

    From The Wall Street Journal

    "In some cases, the ice at the fracture surfaces has also shifted in height, as if it were raised more on one side of the moulin than on the other," Humbert noted.

    From Science Daily

    It was at the height of his fame.

    From BBC

    The film was an instant comic classic, taking in-law anxiety to new heights.

    From Salon

    Related Words

    • ceiling
    • crest
    • elevation
    • extent
    • peak
    • pinnacle
    • prominence
    • stature

    Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

    Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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