height

or hight

[hahyt]

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.

Origin of height

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

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

Synonyms for height

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR height ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Antonyms for height

1, 2. depth.

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

Related Words for height

ceiling, pinnacle, prominence, peak, extent, stature, elevation, crest, top, maximum, crown, highness, acme, cusp, apex, vertex, brow, rise, tip, mountain

Examples 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 Philosophy
Oliver Jones
December 27, 2014
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
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
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

Historical Examples of height

In front of Judge Gould's office the combat was at its height.
Harriet, The Moses of Her People
Sarah H. Bradford
There is no height to which you may not fairly rise in this country.
The Grand Old Man
Richard B. Cook
From the height of this place and the summit of this century, let us go forth.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
Height above the sea, of the Pass, 1458 feet;—of this camp, 1256 feet.
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
Thomas Mitchell
Which of you by being over-anxious can add a single foot to his height?
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King

British Dictionary definitions for height

height

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

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 in Medicine

height

[hīt]

n.

The distance from the base of something to the top.

Stature, especially of the human body.