height

or hight

[ hahyt ]

/ haɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR height ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

extent or distance upward: The balloon stopped rising at a height of 500 feet.

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.

the distance between the lowest and highest points of a person standing upright; stature: She is five feet in height.

considerable or great altitude or elevation: the height of the mountains.

Often heights.

a high place above a level; a hill or mountain: They stood on the heights overlooking the valley.
the highest part; top; apex; summit: In his dreams he reached the heights.

the highest point; utmost degree: the height of power; the height of pleasure.

Archaic. high rank in social status.

Nearby words

heifer, heifetz, heifetz, jascha, heigh, heigh-ho, height, height of contour, height of land, height-to-paper, heighten, heighth

Origin of height

before 900; Middle English; Old English hīehtho. See high, -th¹

SYNONYMS FOR height

3 tallness. 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.

5 prominence.

6 peak, pinnacle; acme, zenith; culmination.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR height ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR height

1, 2 depth.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR height ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confusedaltitude elevation height (see synonym study at the current entry)

Usage note

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for height

This is a Hollywood director at the height of his powers creating original, wildly ambitious epics.
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’|Marlow Stern|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
During the height of his disenchantment, he visited his hometown where an old friend gave him some liquid acid.
DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy|Oliver Jones|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
At the height of the Soviet Union, the proletariat universally understood everything their government said was a work of fiction.
The Facts About Ferguson Matter, Dammit|Doug McIntyre|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Recipients in a cryobank can peruse donor files and see hair color, eye color, race, height, IQ, and so on.
Have Sperm, Will Travel: The ‘Natural Inseminators’ Helping Women Avoid the Sperm Bank|Elizabeth Picciuto|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

From the height of 700 feet, a lush uniform green obscured the destruction unfolding below him.
‘Argo’ in the Congo: The Ghosts of the Stanleyville Hostage Crisis|Nina Strochlic|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The volume of the Rjukan fall is enormous, its height very considerable, and its roar deafening.
Ticket No. "9672"|Jules Verne
The tumulus was then raised to nearly twice its present height.
The Paladins of Edwin the Great|Clements R. Markham
The English minsters are long, narrow and low in contrast with the greater squareness and height of French contemporary churches.
The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, vol. 06, No. 12, December 1900|Various
I suppose it is a sort of nemesis of wit; the skidding of a wheel in the height of its speed.
George Bernard Shaw|Gilbert K. Chesterton
The taste was at its height about 1710, and continued for many years.
Little Books About Old Furniture. Volume II. The Period of Queen Anne|J. P. Blake

British Dictionary definitions for height

height

/ (haɪt) /

noun

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

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

relatively great altitude or distance from the bottom to the top

the topmost point; summit

astronomy the angular distance of a celestial body above the horizon

the period of greatest activity or intensitythe height of the battle

an extreme example of its kindthe height of rudeness

(often plural) an area of high ground

(often plural) the state of being far above the groundI don't like heights

(often plural) a position of influence, fame, or powerthe giddy heights they occupied in the 1980s

Word Origin for height

Old English hīehthu; related to Old Norse hǣthe, Gothic hauhitha, Old High German hōhida; see high

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

Word Origin and History for height

height

Old English hiehþu, Anglian hehþo "highest part or point, summit; the heavens, heaven," from root of heah "high" (see high) + -itha, Germanic abstract noun suffix. Cf. Old Norse hæð, Middle Dutch hoochte, Old High German hohida, Gothic hauhiþa "height." Meaning "distance from bottom to top" is from late 13c. Meaning "excellence, high degree of a quality" is late 14c. The modern pronunciation with -t emerged 13c., but wasn't established till 19c., and heighth is still colloquial.

Medicine definitions for height

height

[ hīt ]

n.

The distance from the base of something to the top.

Stature, especially of the human body.

height

or hight

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of height

Usage note

Examples from the Web for height

British Dictionary definitions for height

height

noun

Word Origin for height

Word Origin and History for height

height

Medicine definitions for height

height

n.