heaven-highadj.adv.
/ˌhɛvnˈhʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈhɛv(ə)nˈhaɪ/ A. adj.
Reaching high into the sky; very high or tall. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > [adjective] > great or considerable
higheOE
steepOE
heaven-highOE
highlyOE
brentc1400
hightc1480
hichty1513
procere1542
tall1548
spiringa1552
towereda1552
tower-like1552
upstretched1563
airy1565
excelse1569
haughty1570
topless1589
lofty1590
procerous1599
kiss-sky1603
skyish1604
topful?1611
aspiringc1620
sky-high1622
hiddy1632
tiptoed1632
sublime1635
towering1638
soaring1687
mountain high1693
clamberinga1717
skied1730
towery1731
pyramidic1740
skyey1750
skyward1792
skyscraping1797
exulting1798
high-reaching1827
steepling1892
high-rise1964
hi1972
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > [adverb] > to a great or considerable height
highOE
heaven-high?1518
loftily1548
tower-wise1581
a-cock-hye1598
tally1611
eminently1620
spirally1806
sky-high1818
toweringly1822
OE Daniel 553 Þæt þu gesawe þurh swefen cuman, heofonheane beam and þa halgan word.
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. C.ijv They songe and daunsed full merely With swerynge and starynge heuen hye.
a1618 J. Davies Exstasie in Wks. (Grosart) 93 Their Heav'n-high roofes shal be embattelled With adamant in gold enuelloped.
1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies iii. 129 If those Babel-Builders had thought good To raise their heav'n-high Towre before the flood.
a1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Story of Meleager & Atalanta in Metamorphoses (1717) viii. 272 This Act with Shouts Heav'n-high the friendly Band Applaud.
1843 T. Carlyle Past & Present ii. vi. 90 Our Religion is..a great heaven-high Unquestionability.
1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz 382 World-wide heaven-high sea.
1930 Times 19 Dec. 13/5 With heaven-high omnibuses and long trains of vans..glimpses of the flowery centre must be very few and very short.
1968 R. Atkins Heretofore 24 Who had hearts heaven high and deep?
2007 Observer (Nexis) 1 Apr. (Sports section) 13 Hard rain..has made those greens softly receptive to the sort of heaven-high approaches that Woods and his main rivals so eagerly unwrap.
B. adv.
Up to heaven; to a great height, sky-high. Also figurative.Cf. as high as heaven at heaven n. 1c.
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1749 W. Hawkins Henry & Rosamond v. ii. 69 My haughty Soul, that erst climb'd Heaven high.
1810 W. S. Rose Crusade St. Lewis 25 In a fountain-stream of smoke Heaven-high their fragments flew.
1864 R. Browning Abt Vogler i Man, brute, reptile, fly,..Adverse, Each from the other heaven-high, hell-deep removed.
1916 K. Tynan Holy War 36 You lift hands for France—O lift them heaven-high For those who fight with France.
1945 V. Watkins Sea-music for my Sister Travelling in Coll. Poems (1986) 76 Flinging the water-fleece Heaven-high, to sink you deeper in the trough.
1996 Miami Herald (Nexis) 16 Aug. f1 Pulitzer Prizes rain down on all sides of me like artillery shells, striking friends and envied rivals, blowing them heaven-high.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.OE