HEIGHT


Meaning of HEIGHT in English

height S2 W3 /haɪt/ BrE AmE noun

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ height , heights; verb : ↑ heighten ; adjective : heightened]

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: hiehthu ]

1 . HOW TALL [uncountable and countable] how tall someone or something is:

Sam’s about the same height as his sister now.

State your age, height, and weight.

buildings of different heights

six feet/ten metres etc in height

None of these sculptures was less than three metres in height.

a height of six feet/ten metres etc

Sunflowers can grow to a height of 15 feet.

2 . DISTANCE ABOVE THE GROUND [uncountable and countable] the distance something is above the ground:

It’s a miracle she didn’t break her neck falling from that height.

a height of 2,500 feet/10,000 metres etc

The aircraft was flying at a height of 10,000 metres.

gain/lose height (=move higher or lower in the sky)

The plane was rapidly losing height.

3 . HIGH PLACE

a) [countable] a place or position that is a long way above the ground

from a height

a bird that opens shellfish by dropping them from a height onto rocks

Rachel had always been scared of heights.

have a head for heights (=not be afraid of heights)

b) heights [plural] a particular high place – used especially in place names:

the Golan Heights

4 . new/great/dizzy etc heights

a) a very high level of achievement or success

rise to/reach etc ... heights

He reached the dizzy heights of the national finals.

They took ice dancing to new heights.

b) a very great level or degree:

War fever had reached new heights.

5 . the height of something the busiest or most extreme part of a period or activity SYN peak :

the height of the tourist season

6 . be at the height of your success/fame/powers etc to be more successful, famous etc than at any other time:

The Beatles were at the height of their fame.

7 . be the height of fashion/stupidity/luxury etc to be extremely fashionable, stupid etc:

Flared trousers were considered to be the height of fashion in those days.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.