height
Americannoun
-
extent or distance upward.
The balloon stopped rising at a height of 500 feet.
- Antonyms:
- depth
-
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
-
the distance between the lowest and highest points of a person standing upright; stature.
She is five feet in height.
- Synonyms:
- tallness
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- prominence
-
-
the highest point; utmost degree.
the height of power; the height of pleasure.
- Synonyms:
- culmination, zenith, acme, pinnacle, peak
-
Archaic. high rank in social status.
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 intensity
the height of the battle
-
an extreme example of its kind
the height of rudeness
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(often plural) an area of high ground
-
(often plural) the state of being far above the ground
I don't like heights
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(often plural) a position of influence, fame, or power
the giddy heights they occupied in the 1980s
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.
"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
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.
