high beam

or highbeam

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noun

an automobile headlight beam providing bright, long-range illumination of a darkened road and chiefly for use in driving in nonurban areas.

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QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Compare low beam.

Origin of high beam

First recorded in 1935–40

Words nearby high beam

High Arctic, high as a kite, highball, high-bandwidth digital content protection, high bar, high beam, highbinder, high blood pressure, high blower, high board, highborn

How to use high beam in a sentence

Think of it like auto high-beams on modern cars, except the high beams never actually shut off when an oncoming car comes around a corner.
Car headlights are getting a much-needed upgrade with the infrastructure act|Rob Stumpf|November 20, 2021|Popular-Science
Switch off your high beams around other drivers, and your driving lights will turn off.
The Best Way to Add Driving Lights to a Normal Car|Wes Siler|January 26, 2021|Outside Online
It’s like trying to look at the road while another car’s high beams are pointed in your direction.
We need to go to Venus as soon as possible|Neel Patel|September 16, 2020|MIT Technology Review
There ensconcing themselves on a high beam, they soon forgot the cobwebs in the interest of the debate.
'That Very Mab'|May Kendall and Andrew Lang

Presently there was a glow of yellow light which illuminated the whole gymnasium and rested especially upon the high beam.
When Sarah Went to School|Elsie Singmaster
The cat curled himself in front of the fire, while the cock flew up on a high beam.
The Beacon Second Reader|James H. Fassett
The older girls climbed the ladder to a high beam, and then would shoot off on to the soft hay far below.
Cricket at the Seashore|Elizabeth Westyn Timlow
The other bear—the one that fell from the high beam—had the handsomest black, glossy pelt I have ever seen.
A Busy Year at the Old Squire's|Charles Asbury Stephens