highland
noun
an elevated region; plateau.
highland
1 American
[hahy-luhnd]
/ ˈhaɪ lənd /
Highland
2
American
[hahy-luhnd]
/ ˈhaɪ lənd /
noun
-
a region in N Scotland, including a number of the Inner Hebrides. 9,710 sq. mi. (25,148 sq. km).
-
a city in NW Indiana, near Chicago.
-
British. West Highland.
Highland
1
British
/ ˈhaɪlənd /
noun
-
a council area in N Scotland, formed in 1975 (as Highland Region) from Caithness, Sutherland, Nairnshire, most of Inverness-shire, and Ross and Cromarty except for the Outer Hebrides. Administrative centre: Inverness. Pop: 209 080 (2003 est). Area: 25 149 sq km (9710 sq miles)
-
(modifier) of, relating to, or denoting the Highlands of Scotland
highland
2
British
/ ˈhaɪlənd /
noun
-
relatively high ground
-
(modifier) of or relating to a highland
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of highland
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hēahlond. See high, land
Vocabulary lists containing highland
The United States
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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.
See Examples For:
The reader advances across Mr. McKay’s superb translation as though compelled by a fierce highland wind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Despite that short evolutionary history, the plants have adapted to remarkably different habitats across the islands, including humid highland forests and hot, dry lowlands.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
Interestingly, the same gene has experienced strong positive selection in central African rainforest hunter-gatherers and in highland populations of Ecuador.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
Whole city blocks were inundated this week in coastal Nha Trang, while deadly landslides struck highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hub.
From Barron's ● Nov. 22, 2025
The earliest and most intensive food production, and the densest populations, of Greater Australia arose in the highland valleys of New Guinea at altitudes between 4,000 and 9,000 feet above sea level.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Castlehill, now renamed Morar Highland, was graded "good" in its most recent care inspection.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Elgin City won the 1992-93 Highland League, but were later stripped of the title after having been found to have fielded ineligible players.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Thurman has an ongoing lawsuit against Ascension Seton Williamson and the other hospital, Ascension Seton Highland Lakes, for medical malpractice.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
“I have the best job in the world,” says John Highland, former veterinary technician and now one of the ranch’s animal care specialists, as the dogs stream into Adventureland.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
When Scotland’s Second Highland Light Infantry Battalion was finally taken out of action, only thirty men remained of the more than one thousand who had come to France at the start of the war.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
He had passed another full layby in Glencoe valley, a particularly picturesque and popular part of the Scottish highlands that attracts large numbers of overseas tourists.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
His background as an expert on South America adds color and authenticity to his narrative, offering rich descriptions of the land, flora and fauna of the Peruvian-Chilean coastline and highlands as backdrop to Miller’s adventures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
A flatbed truck carrying a tank rolled through the highlands, making its way through fields of blossoming pink almond trees and yellow wildflowers.
From Barron's ● Mar. 18, 2026
These scarps are common in the lunar highlands and formed within the last billion years, about the most recent 20% of the Moon's history.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 18, 2026
Most of them are in the ancient lunar highlands and date from the time of the final accretion of the Moon from interplanetary debris.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
