highlight

[hahy-lahyt]

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verb (used with object), high·light·ed, high·light·ing.

to emphasize or make prominent.

to create highlights in (a photograph or engraving).

noun

Also high light. an important, conspicuous, memorable, or enjoyable event, scene, part, or the like: the highlight of his talk; the highlight of the concert series.

the area of most intense light on a represented form, as in a painting or photograph.

Origin of highlight

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; high + light¹

Related formshigh·light·er, noun

Synonyms for highlight

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1. stress, accent, underline, feature.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for highlighting

ignite, shine, brighten, kindle, reveal, discover, highlight, emphasize, underscore, underline, publicize, accentuate, illuminate, stress, indicate, mark, expose, publish, introduce, reiterate

Examples from the Web for highlighting

Contemporary Examples of highlighting

But how exacerbating anarchy in Libya and highlighting the power of the gun over politics serves U.S. interests remains unclear.
An Ex-CIA Recruit Adds to Libyan Chaos
Jamie Dettmer
May 19, 2014
News of doctor and nurse drug overdoses hit the press this week, highlighting an ongoing (and growing) problem.
The Secret World of Drug-Addict Doctors
Kent Sepkowitz
April 24, 2014
On Monday, he personally thanked Edward Snowden for highlighting some of the abuses made possible by his invention.
World Wide Web Turns 25
Nico Hines
March 12, 2014
In the meantime, Obama should be highlighting mobility nonstop from here to 2017.
Obama and Inequality (and Clinton): A Long-Term Project
Michael Tomasky
December 4, 2013
But surely the most damaging is that it reduces the power of highlighting true acts of hateful racism.
The Government Shutdown Isn’t Racist
Stuart Stevens
October 8, 2013

Historical Examples of highlighting

There's highlighting and emphasizing selected perceptics and such.
The Premiere
Richard Sabia
And it took some highlighting and sidelighting with the use of a spotlight to actually make those things discernible at all.
Warren Commission (4 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15)
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

British Dictionary definitions for highlighting

highlight

noun

an area of the lightest tone in a painting, drawing, photograph, etc

the most exciting or memorable part of an event or period of time

(often plural) a bleached blond streak in the hair

verb (tr)

painting drawing photog to mark (any brightly illuminated or prominent part of a form or figure) with light tone

to bring notice or emphasis to

to be the highlight of

to produce blond streaks in (the hair) by bleaching

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 highlighting

highlight

1650s, originally of paintings, "the brightest part of a subject," from high (adj.) + light (n.). The figurative sense of "outstanding feature or characteristic" is from 1855. The verb is from 1861. Hairdressing sense is 1941 (n.), 1942 (v.). Related: Highlighted; highlighting.