English

Noun

highboy ‎(plural highboys)

Philadelphia highboy (State Dept. collection), ca. 1760

1. A tall chest of drawers raised up on high legs.
   • 1897, Katharine Lee Bates, American Literature

     mahogany highboys glittering with brass handles

   • 1929 June, Cescinsky, Herbert, “American furniture problems”, in The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, volume 54, number 315, page 313:

     ... the well-known Pennsylvania "Highboy," which is only the English "Tallboy" double-chest elevated on cabriole legs ....

   • (US) National Gallery of Art

     During the Queen Anne period in America, the highboy attained its characteristic form. [...] The cabriole leg was a distinctive feature developed in the Queen Anne period; its shape repeats the S-curve that dominated all Queen Anne design.

2. (dated) One who enjoys the high life.
3. (dated) A political highflier.

Synonyms

• (tall chest of drawers): tallboy

Related terms

• lowboy