highlightn.
/ˈhʌɪlʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈhaɪˌlaɪt/ 1.
a. Any of the brightest parts of the subject of a painting, photograph, etc., or its representation; an area of a painting, etc., made prominent by the representation of light. Hence more generally: an area of bright light or brighter or lighter colour on any object. Usually in plural.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > light and shade > [noun] > light > accent or highlight
highlight1658
accent1849
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > a photograph > qualities and effects > [noun] > bright part
highlight1658
hot spot1971
1658 W. Sanderson Graphice 66 In what places you will have those strong and high lights, and reflections to fall, which are seen in satten and velvet.
1756 T. Bardwell Pract. Painting & Perspective 24 In the First Lay, the High Lights should be laid with a Plenty of stiff Colour.
1797 tr. Constant de Massoul Treat. Art of Painting 95 Keeping the most brilliant colours for the lights, reserving the Ivory for the high lights.
1832 Belle Assemblée Apr. 169/2 The feminine costume was generally confined to a mass of neutral colour carelessly rubbed in, with a high light daubed upon the shoulders.
1892 A. Brothers Photogr. v. ii. 335 In a portrait..there should be parts which are brighter than the rest of the face—on the forehead and nose, for instance; they are called high lights.
1929 K. H. Brown Father vi. 61 There were artless scarlet highlights cut from portions of the little boys' outgrown woolen underwear.
1943 National Geographic Mag. Dec. 671/2 Sumptuous in color are the carriers, shining with metallic high lights.
1983 D. R. Graves Drawing Portraits xv. 102 I indicate a highlight on each pupil, making the highlight in the right eye stronger.
1991 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Oct. 178/3 Yellow-green with red highlights; juicy, crisp; mild, sweet flavor.
b. spec. A bright tint or area of lighter colour in the hair, esp. one created artificially by bleaching or dyeing. Cf. lowlight n. 2c. Usually in plural.
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the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [noun] > bright tint in hair
highlight1890
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > coloured > part of the hair that is coloured
highlight1890
streak1949
lights1956
lowlights1972
1890 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Daily Tribune 28 May 4/1 Brown hair will have more golden high lights, if there is gold in the dress, but gold of a lower tone than the high lights of the hair.
1911 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 5 Aug. 7/1 They all fluff their faces with powder..; and some of them put a few golden highlights on brown hair.
1941 Hairdressers' Weekly Jrnl. 1 Feb. 155/2 One can bring out high-lights on every shade of hair by the appropriate use of toning rinses.
1992 Lear's May 77/1 The trick, she says, is to judiciously use highlights—strawberry for blonds, sherry for brunettes.
2012 L. Goddard-Clark Hair Color Mix Bk. viii. 205 It combines a very pale amber base color with a highlight.
c. Originally Theatre. Usually in plural: an area of pale or bright make-up, used to make a certain feature prominent or (in later use) to enhance or accentuate certain features as the eyes or cheekbones. Also: a cosmetic product designed to do this; = highlighter n. 2.
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1890 Amateur Work, Illustr. Sept. 452/1 The high lights are then painted above the wrinkles.
1921 J. Emerson & A. Loos Breaking into Movies v. 20 The weather-beaten and wrinkled countenance of an old sea captain may be done in brown with white high-lights.
1940 E. W. Ramstad in C. E. Fisher & H. G. Robertson Children & Theater App. 194 This kind of line is known as a highlight. It must parallel each dark line, as close to the dark line as possible.
1977 Guardian 4 July 9/6 Then came white highlights on the cheek bones and pink blusher on the cheeks.
1991 Ebony Dec. 70/4 Once your foundation and..cheek, eye and lip colors are in place, add a little extra pizzazz to your look with golden or bronze highlights.
2013 Lifestylevideos.com (Nexis) 14 Aug. Take a blending brush to apply the highlight which is cream in colour..just below the eyebrow and blend it smoothly.
2. Nautical. With reference to a pair of leading lights: the lighthouse or beacon which is situated at the higher elevation. Opposed to lowlight n. 1.
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1735 London Evening-Post 23 Dec. 2/1 The Low Light..which bore North West and half West over End, or both in one with the High Light, is taken down.
?1760 New & Compl. Channel Pilot iii. 19 Run in..till you bring the High Light of Harwich in one with Pain Tree.
1818 J. W. Norie New & Extensive Sailing Direct. for Navigation North Sea 81 Two light-houses are erected on the Great Skerry... The high light is 90 feet above the water; and the little, or low light, is 48 feet high.
1851 Naut. Mag. & Naval Chron. May (Advertiser section) 8 The High Light..is a fixed red light, and the Low Light is a fixed bright light. When seen in one line, they lead through the Western Entrance to Hoy Sound.
1909 Geogr. Jrnl. 34 510 Smeaton's small lighthouse was built in 1771, 280 yards east of the high light.
1947 Portland (Maine) Sunday Telegram & Sunday Press Herald 20 Apr. 8/5 He was trying to spy out the lower lighthouse... There it is just to port of the high light his captain said pointing over his shoulder.
2005 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 31 Jan. 21 The perilous entry into the Tyne meant that low and high lights had to be erected to guide ships into the river.
3.
a. figurative. A prominent or outstanding feature or characteristic; an exceptional or the best part of an event or period of time.In quot. 1855 in figurative context.
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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > outstanding
jewel in the crown1615
jewel1673
prominence1826
salient point1841
highlight1850
high spot1894
salient1936
1850 Spectator 13 Apr. 347/2 The small pleasantries of the humourist, coming in as high lights against a background of gravity, would have been found infinitely facetious.
1855 Knickerbocker 46 40 If we have chosen to speak of the shadows in the fair portrait [sc. a description of the Eastern young lady], we have also neglected to point out the high lights.
1905 A. Adams Outlet 275 It was the recognized cattle centre of Montana.., but devoid of the high-lights which were a feature of the trail towns.
1922 A. Waugh Public School Life i. 16 It would be filled with high lights, with breathless escapades, with impossible heroics.
1969 Times 10 Feb. 6/5 The highlight of the lunch will be a speech..on the vital relationship between the industrial leader and his executive secretary.
2012 Stamp Mag. Nov. 14/1 Other highlights of the collection included telegrams sent by King George VI to Baden-Powell, and scout post items from the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
b. U.S. colloquial. to hit the highlights: = to hit the high spots at high spot n. 1.
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society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [verb (intransitive)] > good or bad standard of performance
to be off one's game1848
to hit the highlights1923
1923 Weekly Disp. 21 Jan. 11 There is no ‘hitting the high lights’ when he is not in training.
1974 L. G. Reynolds Labor Econ. & Labor Relations iv. 333 In Chapter 15 we hit the highlights of this long development.
2006 T. Leffel World's Cheapest Destinations (rev. ed.) 140 Those on a backpacker budget will find themselves laying out a lot of cash to hit the highlights.
c. In plural. The best parts of a sporting or other event edited for broadcasting or recording.
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1939 N.Y. Times 5 Apr. 34/4 The picture views the highlights of the past season, showing the professional football teams in action.
1969 Times 19 Feb. 17/2 Highlights from one of tonight's top soccer matches.
1994 J. Faris J. Mansfield 118 The program showed highlights of Bob Hope's..USO trip.
2006 Rugby League World Jan. 18/1 There has been some TV coverage with highlights of all the above competitions shown on BBC Wales.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
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1881 T. Hardy in Harper's New Monthly Mag. Apr. 775/2 He saw a face in the square of darkness formed by one of the open windows, the effect being that of a high-light portrait by Vandyck or Rembrandt.
1887 S. K. Burton Pract. Guide Photogr. & Photo-mech. Printing xlv. 349 When a transparency merely serves an intermediate purpose, it is generally necessary to secure all the high light details in great strength.
1909 J. B. Schriever & T. H. Cummings Compl. Self-instructing Libr. Pract. Photogr. VI. xviii. 144 A sufficient amount of the cheek on the high-light side of the face must be admitted to give roundness to the portrait.
1946 N.Y. Times 28 Jan. 8/5 (advt.) Stroock Luxury Wool Ties by Hut..Featuring the new ‘Highlight Colors’!
1954 Washington Post & Times Herald 17 June 17/3 The condensed highlight show late at night could have been employed to do propaganda work.
1985 Ottawa (Kansas) Herald 6 July 2/3 Both [events] will surely be on the highlight reel of the biggest picture stories of 1985.
1993 Sat. Night (Toronto) July 16/2 Millions of people who later that evening blinked at thirty-two seconds of highlight video saw Manning get stomped.
2007 L. Perry Drunk, Divorced & covered in Cat Hair xvii. 64 That highlight color is all wrong.
C2. attributive, with the sense ‘used in creating or working with highlights (sense 1)’.
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1896 M. Anderson Anderson's Photo-Mech. Processes viii. 84 The ‘full tone’ or ‘high light process’ is a comparatively new thing.
1899 Photographic Times June 298/1 Allowing the screen to be set at its normal distance for the shadow stop, as well as for the high light stop, provides the only method for producing the smallest possible dot in the shadow.
1939 Pop. Sci. Oct. 141/1 Accurate readings in dim and brilliant light..are said to be provided by a new meter... According to the position of the door, a ‘high light’ or ‘low light’ scale appears at the front of the meter.
1948 L. Flader & J. S. Mertle Mod. Photoengraving p. xxi/2 Dropout, a highlight halftone negative or printing plate; ‘dropping-out’ is the elimination of highlight dot formations.
1951 G. H. Sewell Amateur Film-making (ed. 2) ii. 20 The high-light meter reads the intensity of the light falling upon the subject, instead of the light reflected from it.
1966 J. Stevens Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing & Wigmaking 79/2 High-light cap, a plastic head cap with holes in it used for drawing a strand or strands of hair through to bleach.
1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 13 Highlight stop, a lens aperture used in half-tone photography which has a specific influence on the formation of highlight tones.
2009 E. Viets Killer Cuts 99 Sandra was wearing silver highlight foils that looked like a crown of leaves.
C3.
highlight mask n. Photography and Printing a mask (mask n.3 8b) used to retain or increase highlight contrast; (later also in digital imaging) a software tool used in a similar manner.
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1946 R. Speck in Abridged Sci. Publ. from Kodak Res. Lab. 1945 27 272 A new masking technique to be described here involves the use of..a so-called ‘auxiliary or highlight mask’ which is used in conjunction with the original Kodachrome to print the principal mask.
1948 Pop. Photogr. May 190/2 The highlight mask, after exposure and development, is placed over the transparency during the exposure of the principal mask or masks, and then discarded.
2012 R. Lynch Adobe Photoshop Layers Bk. iii. 108 Reset actions can make quick, one-click work of applying things like a highlight mask without having to even open the Channels palette.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
highlightv.
/ˈhʌɪlʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈhaɪˌlaɪt/ 1.
a. transitive. To make visually prominent.
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1881 J. W. Burgess Pract. Treat. Coach-building xii. 131 Paint the wreath blue and white, the crest to be merely lighted with the colour used for high lighting the other parts.
1949 Life 10 Jan. 42/1 He lined the actors up against neutral backdrops and photographed them (using color to highlight the costumes).
1989 W. Frankel Basic Wiring (ed. 2) iii. 96/2 Track lighting systems..are now used to highlight paintings.
2001 N.Y. Times Mag. 4 Feb. 26 (advt.) Sisal is used as an underlay to highlight pretty botanical flowered rugs or colorful kilims.
b. transitive. To mark (text, figures, etc.) with a highlighter pen.
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society > communication > indication > marking > mark [verb (transitive)] > with a pen
highlight1963
1963 ALA Bull. 57 872 Important words and phrases in reports, releases, news clippings, etc., can be highlighted through the use of the new Magic Marker Hylytr Pen.
1988 A. Lurie Truth about Lorin Jones x. 172 She highlighted in yellow magic marker the books and articles recommended by Jeanne.
2003 P. Davies et al. Enlivening Secondary Hist. (2005) iv. xxxvi. 168 Group members pick up a marker pen and highlight just one aspect of the quote that is of particular interest.
c. transitive. Computing. To mark or select (a section of text or other element) on a visual display unit, typically by using a pointer.
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1975 Computers & Graphics 1 168/1 (caption) A program segment is completed by sequentially highlighting the individual statements.
1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 25 Jan. (Business Outlook section) 12/2 Highlight the word in question, then hit the hot-key combination of Control-Shift-D.
2011 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 19 May 14 On the desktop, highlight the icon and then tap the space bar.
2. transitive. To bring into prominence; to draw attention to.
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society > communication > manifestation > [verb (transitive)] > strikingly
to set out1577
illustrate1603
to stick off1613
signalize1624
to draw out1855
spotlight1907
highlight1922
limelight1927
1922 Printers' Ink 23 Feb. 17 Since everyone returned to the campus late in September, Pilam has thrown several big parties to highlight the Fall social season.
1952 W. Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 97 Highlight, to give prominence to an artiste in the billing or newspaper publicity matter.
1967 R. Singha & R. Massey Indian Dances ii. 42 A tirmana is used to conclude a section of dance or highlight a portion in the middle.
1989 W. Belasco Appetite for Change x. 222 Marketers highlighted ingredients that conveyed nutrient-rich wholesomeness.
2004 H. Kennedy Just Law (2005) ix. 191 The Macpherson Report highlighted the problem of institutional racism.
3. transitive. To create highlights in (hair). Also: to accentuate (a feature) with make-up. Cf. highlight n. 1b.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > beautify (the skin or complexion) [verb (transitive)] > paint or colour
painta1382
farcec1400
farda1450
parget1581
complexion1612
surfle1633
cerusea1640
petre1656
lacquer1688
whitewasha1704
enamel1804
peachify1853
to mug up1859
highlight1935
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)] > colour
dyec1386
colour1600
henna1851
blondine1894
peroxide1899
tint1921
highlight1935
rinse1959
blue-rinse1962
streak1965
1935 Daily Independent (Monessen, Pennsylvania) 2 Jan. 5/7 (advt.) Highlight your hair.
1965 Times 8 Nov. 13/7 For eyes there is their French Beige shadow with Antique Bisque for highlighting the eyebone.
1978 E. Tennant Bad Sister 49 Long pieces of blonde hair, high-lighted every three months and slightly curled for the party.
2009 J. Zaslow Girls from Ames i. 20 She was the first of the girls to highlight her hair.
Derivatives
ˈhighlighted adj.
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1914 Bull. of Photogr. Sept. 497 The intense white of the sky, and other highlighted objects.
1953 Pop. Mech. Dec. 201/1 Flat-black lacquer probably is best for plain black work and for a high-lighted hammer finish.
1975 Computers & Graphics 1 168/1 The highlighted graphic instruction indicates actual image lines are to be drawn.
1982 Christian Sci. Monitor 7 Jan. (Eastern ed.) 814 In addition to the highlighted Wildfire title, another one is ‘backlisted’.
1991 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 27 Nov. b4/2 Users can move selected blocks of text anywhere in a document by simply clicking on the highlighted text and dragging it to its new location.
2011 Vanity Fair Aug. 108/2 A look that could be described as Real Housewives Business Casual—tight navy skirts, highlighted blond hair, and enormous handbags.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1658
v.1881- at set steven
- at sharp(s
- at short
- at short date or sight
- at short hand
- at short intervals
- at short notice
- at short order
- at short range
- at short words
- at shoulder arms
- at sight
- at sign
- at single hand
- at sixes and sevens
- at slow bell
- at so many days' etc sight
- at so many days' sight
- at sometimes
- at somewhile
- at soonest
- at soul
- at souse
- at south
- at south-east