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Webster 1913 Edition


Height

Height

(hīt)
,
Noun.
[Written also
hight
.]
[OE.
heighte
,
heght
,
heighthe
, AS.
heáhðu
,
hēhðu
fr.
heah
high; akin to D.
hoogte
, Sw.
höjd
, Dan.
höide
, Icel.
hæð
, Goth.
hauhiþa
. See
High
.]
1.
The condition of being high; elevated position.
Behold the
height
of the stars, how high they are!
Job xxii. 12.
2.
The distance to which anything rises above its foot, above that on which in stands, above the earth, or above the level of the sea; altitude; the measure upward from a surface, as the floor or the ground, of an animal, especially of a man; stature.
Bacon.
[Goliath’s]
height
was six cubits and a span.
1 Sam. xvii. 4.
3.
Degree of latitude either north or south.
[Obs.]
Guinea lieth to the north sea, in the same
height
as Peru to the south.
Abp. Abbot.
4.
That which is elevated; an eminence; a hill or mountain;
as, Alpine
heights
.
Dryden.
5.
Elevation in excellence of any kind, as in power, learning, arts; also, an advanced degree of social rank; preëminence or distinction in society; prominence.
Measure your mind's
height
by the shade it casts.
R. Browning.
All would in his power hold, all make his subjects.
Chapman.
6.
Progress toward eminence; grade; degree.
Social duties are carried to greater
heights
, and enforced with stronger motives by the principles of our religion.
Addison.
7.
Utmost degree in extent; extreme limit of energy or condition;
as, the
height
of a fever, of passion, of madness, of folly; the
height
of a tempest.
My grief was at the
height
before thou camest.
Shakespeare
On height
,
aloud.
[Obs.]

[He] spake these same words, all
on hight
.
Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition


Height

HEIGHT


Definition 2024


height

height

English

Alternative forms

Noun

height (countable and uncountable, plural heights)

  1. The distance from the base of something to the top.
    • Robert Frost
      Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
  2. The vertical distance from the ground to the highest part of a standing person or animal (withers in the case of a horse).
  3. The highest point or maximum degree.
    • 2004, Peter Bondanella, Hollywood Italians: Dagos, Palookas, Romeos, Wise Guys, and Sopranos, chapter 4, 173–174:
      During the height of Italian immigration in the United States and in New York City, gangs flourished not only because of poverty but also because of political and social corruption. Policemen and politicians were often as crooked as the gang leaders themselves.
    • 2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 - 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport:
      If City never quite reached the heights of their 6-1 demolition of United, then Roberto Mancini's side should still have had this game safe long before Johnson restored their two-goal advantage.
    She's at the height of her career.
  4. A mountain, especially a very high one.
  5. (Sussex) An area of land at the top of a cliff.

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  • See also Wikisaurus:apex

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