highlight
Americanverb (used with object)
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to emphasize or make prominent.
The lawsuit against the landlord highlighted the need for a stricter building code.
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to mark with a felt-tip highlighter.
I started highlighting the text (yellow for important ideas, blue for dates and facts), but I'm not sure it was productive in the long run.
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to create highlights in (a photograph or engraving).
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to dye (parts of the hair) lighter.
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to apply makeup to (the face) in places where light would naturally hit, to create a glowing effect.
After blending the foundation, highlight the cheekbones.
noun
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Sometimes high light an important, conspicuous, memorable, or enjoyable event, scene, part, or the like: the highlight of the concert series.
the highlight of his talk;
the highlight of the concert series.
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the area of most intense light on a represented form, as in a painting or photograph.
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Usually highlights a section of hair that has been dyed lighter.
noun
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an area of the lightest tone in a painting, drawing, photograph, etc
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the most exciting or memorable part of an event or period of time
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(often plural) a bleached blond streak in the hair
verb
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painting drawing photog to mark (any brightly illuminated or prominent part of a form or figure) with light tone
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to bring notice or emphasis to
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to be the highlight of
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to produce blond streaks in (the hair) by bleaching
Usage
What does highlight mean? To highlight something is to emphasize it or make it more prominent, as in Last class, the biology teacher highlighted the material we would need to know for the test.To highlight also means to mark something on paper with a highlighter. A highlighter is a felt-tipped pen with a soft, translucent color used to mark words and images on a printed page. Many students and readers highlight passages in textbooks and other materials to help them remember the passages better.A highlight is the best or most prominent part of something. You can often watch the highlights of a sporting event or TV show online. Your study notes might be just the highlights of your teacher’s lectures, and if you keep a journal or diary, you might only record the highlights of your day.Example: I try to highlight the best members of a community in my stories.
Etymology
Origin of highlight
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.
In her remembrance, Holmes highlighted their shared “laughter, conversations about life, James Taylor songs” and their “adventures of a unique youth.”
From Los Angeles Times
Unlike the United States, Canada publicly highlighted its concerns at the highest level, with the then-prime minister criticizing India's actions.
From Barron's
Among European data, provisional purchasing managers’ data and U.K. inflation data will mark the highlight.
But this awful situation also highlights TV’s ability to unite its otherwise fractured audience, despite years of scripted and unscripted content numbing us to the worst acts people commit against one another.
From Salon
Congressmen highlighted the document, because the recipient was redacted in the document.
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.
