HEIGHT


Meaning of HEIGHT in English

/ haɪt; NAmE / noun

MEASUREMENT

1.

[ U , C ] the measurement of how tall a person or thing is :

Height: 210 mm. Width: 57 mm. Length: 170 mm.

Please state your height and weight.

It is almost 2 metres in height .

She is the same height as her sister.

to be of medium / average height

You can adjust the height of the chair.

The table is available in several different heights.

—picture at dimension

BEING TALL

2.

[ U ] the quality of being tall or high :

She worries about her height (= that she is too tall) .

The height of the mountain did not discourage them.

DISTANCE ABOVE GROUND

3.

[ C , U ] a particular distance above the ground :

The plane flew at a height of 3 000 metres.

The stone was dropped from a great height .

The aircraft was gaining height.

to be at shoulder / chest / waist height

HIGH PLACE

4.

[ C , usually pl. ] (often used in names) a high place or position :

Brooklyn Heights

He doesn't have a head for heights (= is afraid of high places) .

a fear of heights

We looked out over the city from the heights of Edinburgh Castle.

The pattern of the ancient fields is clearly visible from a height .

STRONGEST POINT / LEVEL

5.

[ sing. ] the point when sth is at its best or strongest :

He is at the height of his career.

She is still at the height of her powers .

I wouldn't go there in the height of summer .

The fire reached its height around 2 a.m.

The crisis was at its height in May.

6.

heights [ pl. ] a better or greater level of sth; a situation where sth is very good :

Their success had reached new heights .

She dreamed of reaching the dizzy heights of stardom.

EXTREME EXAMPLE

7.

[ sing. ] height of sth an extreme example of a particular quality :

It would be the height of folly (= very stupid) to change course now.

She was dressed in the height of fashion .

IDIOMS

- draw yourself up / rise to your full height

—more at dizzy

••

WORD ORIGIN

Old English hēhthu (in the sense top of something ), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hoogte , also to high .

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне.