height
or hight
- 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.
Origin of height
Synonyms for height
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms for height
Usage note
Related Words for height
ceiling, pinnacle, prominence, peak, extent, stature, elevation, crest, top, maximum, crown, highness, acme, cusp, apex, vertex, brow, rise, tip, mountainExamples from the Web for height
Contemporary Examples of 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
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 PhilosophyOliver Jones
December 27, 2014
At the height of the Soviet Union, the proletariat universally understood everything their government said was a work of fiction.
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 BankElizabeth Picciuto
November 29, 2014
From the height of 700 feet, a lush uniform green obscured the destruction unfolding below him.
Historical Examples of height
In front of Judge Gould's office the combat was at its height.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
There is no height to which you may not fairly rise in this country.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
From the height of this place and the summit of this century, let us go forth.
Height above the sea, of the Pass, 1458 feet;—of this camp, 1256 feet.
Which of you by being over-anxious can add a single foot to his height?
The Conquest of FearBasil King
height
- 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
Word Origin and History for 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.
height
(hīt)- The distance from the base of something to the top.
- Stature, especially of the human body.