High (?), a. [Compar.
Higher (?); superl. Highest.] [OE.
high, hegh, hey, heh, AS.
heÁh, h?h; akin to OS. h?h, OFries.
hag, hach, D. hoog, OHG. h?h, G.
hoch, Icel. h?r, Sw. hög, Dan.
höi, Goth. hauhs, and to Icel. haugr mound,
G. hügel hill, Lith. kaukaras.] 1.
Elevated above any starting point of measurement, as a line, or
surface; having altitude; lifted up; raised or extended in the
direction of the zenith; lofty; tall; as, a high mountain,
tower, tree; the sun is high.
2. Regarded as raised up or elevated;
distinguished; remarkable; conspicuous; superior; -- used
indefinitely or relatively, and often in figurative senses, which are
understood from the connection; as --
(a) Elevated in character or quality, whether
moral or intellectual; preëminent; honorable; as, high
aims, or motives. "The highest faculty of the soul."
Baxter.
(b) Exalted in social standing or general
estimation, or in rank, reputation, office, and the like; dignified;
as, she was welcomed in the highest circles.
He was a wight of high renown.
Shak.
(c) Of noble birth; illustrious; as, of
high family.
(d) Of great strength, force, importance, and
the like; strong; mighty; powerful; violent; sometimes, triumphant;
victorious; majestic, etc.; as, a high wind; high
passions. "With rather a high manner."
Thackeray.
Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right
hand.
Ps. lxxxix. 13.
Can heavenly minds such high resentment
show?
Dryden.
(e) Very abstract; difficult to comprehend or
surmount; grand; noble.
Both meet to hear and answer such high
things.
Shak.
Plain living and high thinking are no
more.
Wordsworth.
(f) Costly; dear in price; extravagant; as,
to hold goods at a high price.
If they must be good at so high a rate, they
know they may be safe at a cheaper.
South.
(g) Arrogant; lofty; boastful; proud;
ostentatious; -- used in a bad sense.
An high look and a proud heart . . . is
sin.
Prov. xxi. 4.
His forces, after all the high discourses,
amounted really but to eighteen hundred foot.
Clarendon.
3. Possessing a characteristic quality in a
supreme or superior degree; as, high (i. e., intense)
heat; high (i. e., full or quite) noon; high
(i. e., rich or spicy) seasoning; high (i. e.,
complete) pleasure; high (i. e., deep or vivid) color;
high (i. e., extensive, thorough) scholarship,
etc.
High time it is this war now ended
were.
Spenser.
High sauces and spices are fetched from the
Indies.
Baker.
4. (Cookery) Strong-scented; slightly
tainted; as, epicures do not cook game before it is
high.
5. (Mus.) Acute or sharp; -- opposed
to grave or low; as, a high note.
6. (Phon.) Made with a high position
of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate, as ē
(ēve), ? (f?d). See Guide to Pronunciation,
§§ 10, 11.
High admiral, the chief admiral. --
High altar, the principal altar in a
church. -- High and dry, out of water; out
of reach of the current or tide; -- said of a vessel, aground or
beached. -- High and mighty arrogant;
overbearing. [Colloq.] -- High art, art
which deals with lofty and dignified subjects and is characterized by
an elevated style avoiding all meretricious display. --
High bailiff, the chief bailiff. --
High Church, ∧ Low Church,
two ecclesiastical parties in the Church of England and the
Protestant Episcopal Church. The high-churchmen emphasize the
doctrine of the apostolic succession, and hold, in general, to a
sacramental presence in the Eucharist, to baptismal regeneration, and
to the sole validity of Episcopal ordination. They attach much
importance to ceremonies and symbols in worship. Low-churchmen lay
less stress on these points, and, in many instances, reject
altogether the peculiar tenets of the high-church school. See
Broad Church. -- High constable
(Law), a chief of constabulary. See Constable,
n., 2. -- High commission
court,a court of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in England
erected and united to the regal power by Queen Elizabeth in 1559. On
account of the abuse of its powers it was abolished in 1641. --
High day (Script.), a holy or feast
day. John xix. 31. -- High festival
(Eccl.), a festival to be observed with full
ceremonial. -- High German, or High
Dutch. See under German. -- High
jinks, an old Scottish pastime; hence, noisy revelry;
wild sport. [Colloq.] "All the high jinks of the county,
when the lad comes of age." F. Harrison. -- High
latitude (Geog.), one designated by the higher
figures; consequently, a latitude remote from the equator. --
High life, life among the aristocracy or the
rich. -- High liver, one who indulges in a
rich diet. -- High living, a feeding upon
rich, pampering food. -- High Mass. (R. C.
Ch.) See under Mass. -- High
milling, a process of making flour from grain by
several successive grindings and intermediate sorting, instead of by
a single grinding. -- High noon, the time
when the sun is in the meridian. -- High place
(Script.), an eminence or mound on which sacrifices were
offered. -- High priest. See in the
Vocabulary. -- High relief. (Fine Arts)
See Alto-rilievo. -- High school.
See under School. High seas (Law),
the open sea; the part of the ocean not in the territorial waters
of any particular sovereignty, usually distant three miles or more
from the coast line. Wharton. -- High
steam, steam having a high pressure. --
High steward, the chief steward. --
High tea, tea with meats and extra
relishes. -- High tide, the greatest flow
of the tide; high water. -- High time.
(a) Quite time; full time for the occasion.
(b) A time of great excitement or enjoyment; a
carousal. [Slang] -- High treason, treason
against the sovereign or the state, the highest civil offense. See
Treason.
☞ It is now sufficient to speak of high treason as treason
simply, seeing that petty treason, as a distinct offense, has been
abolished. Mozley & W.
-- High water, the utmost flow or greatest
elevation of the tide; also, the time of such elevation. --
High-water mark. (a) That line
of the seashore to which the waters ordinarily reach at high
water. (b) A mark showing the highest level
reached by water in a river or other body of fresh water, as in time
of freshet. -- High-water shrub (Bot.),
a composite shrub (Iva frutescens), growing in salt
marshes along the Atlantic coast of the United States. --
High wine, distilled spirits containing a high
percentage of alcohol; -- usually in the plural. -- To
be on a high horse, to be on one's dignity; to bear
one's self loftily. [Colloq.] -- With a high
hand. (a) With power; in force;
triumphantly. "The children of Israel went out with a high
hand." Ex. xiv. 8. (b) In an
overbearing manner, arbitrarily. "They governed the city with
a high hand." Jowett (Thucyd. ).
Syn. -- Tall; lofty; elevated; noble; exalted;
supercilious; proud; violent; full; dear. See Tall.
High (?), adv. In a high manner;
in a high place; to a great altitude; to a great degree; largely; in
a superior manner; eminently; powerfully. "And reasoned
high." Milton. "I can not reach so high."
Shak.
☞ High is extensively used in the formation of
compound words, most of which are of very obvious signification; as,
high-aimed, high-arched, high-aspiring,
high-bearing, high-boasting, high-browed,
high-crested, high-crowned, high-designing,
high-engendered, high-feeding, high-flaming,
high-flavored, high-gazing, high-heaped,
high-heeled, high-priced, high-reared,
high-resolved, high-rigged, high-seated,
high-shouldered, high-soaring, high-towering,
high-voiced, and the like.
High and low, everywhere; in all supposable
places; as, I hunted high and low. [Colloq.]