high-water mark

American  

[hahy-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈhaɪˈwɔ tər, -ˈwɒt ər /

noun

1. a mark showing the highest level reached by a body of water.

2. the highest point of anything; acme.

   Her speech was the high-water mark of the conference.

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high-water mark British  

noun

1. 1. the level reached by sea water at high tide or by other stretches of water in flood

   2. the mark indicating this level

2. the highest point

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high-water mark Idioms  

1. The peak of something, especially an achievement. For example, This composition is the high-water mark of his entire output. This expression alludes to the highest mark left on shore by the tide. [Mid-1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of high-water mark

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

They racked up some electoral wins, and at their high-water mark received 7.1% of the vote in 1989 European Parliament elections in West Germany.

From The Wall Street Journal

If Hillquit’s mayoral campaign was close to a high-water mark for official American socialism, it was also the beginning of the end.

From Salon

They've come to see that moment of celebration after the inquests as their high-water mark.

From BBC

Trump's discredited audio-visual presentation of what he said was the systematic extermination of white Afrikaner farmers was the high-water mark of their lobbying efforts, amplified as they were in the Oval Office.

From BBC

It remains for me the high-water mark of Beckett acting.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• apex
• apogee
• upper limit