The height of a person or thing is their size or length from the bottom to the top.
Her weight is about normal for her height.
I am 5'6'' in height.
The wave here has a length of 250 feet and a height of 10 feet.
He was a man of medium height.
...a garden containing all sorts of trees and shrubs of varying heights and shades.
2. uncountable noun
Height is the quality of being tall.
She admits that her height is intimidating for some people.
Synonyms: tallness, stature, highness, loftiness More Synonyms of height
3. variable noun
A particular height is the distance that something is above the ground or above something else mentioned.
At the speed and height at which he was moving, he was never more than half a secondfrom disaster.
...a test in which a 6.3 kilogram weight was dropped on it from a height of 1 metre.
The corridors there were painted chocolate-brown to shoulder height.
The chains were at different heights on the wall.
4. countable noun
A height is a high position or place above the ground.
From a height, it looks like a desert.
I'm not afraid of heights.
...the Golan Heights.
Synonyms: peak, top, hill, mountain More Synonyms of height
5. singular noun
When an activity, situation, or organization is at its height, it is at its most successful, powerful, or intense.
During the early sixth century emigration from Britain to Brittany was at its height.
At its height Bletchley Park employed 12,000 people.
He was struck down at the height of his career.
It was freezing up there even at the height of summer.
Synonyms: culmination, climax, zenith, limit More Synonyms of height
6. singular noun
If you say that something is the height of a particular quality, you are emphasizing that it has that quality to the greatest degree possible.
[emphasis]
The hip-hugging black and white polka-dot dress was the height of fashion.
I think it's the height of bad manners to be dressed badly.
This is the height of hooliganism.
7. plural noun [oft adjective NOUN]
If something reaches great heights, it becomes very extreme or intense.
...the mid-1980s, when house prices rose to absurd heights.
Recently the speculation has reached new heights.
One wondered what heights of ecstasy the winner reached.
[Also + of]
More Synonyms of height
height in British English
(haɪt)
noun
1.
the vertical distance from the bottom or lowest part of something to the top or apex
2.
the vertical distance of an object or place above the ground or above sea level; altitude
3.
relatively great altitude or distance from the bottom to the top
4.
the topmost point; summit
5. astronomy
the angular distance of a celestial body above the horizon
6.
the period of greatest activity or intensity
the height of the battle
7.
an extreme example of its kind
the height of rudeness
8. (often plural)
an area of high ground
9. (often plural)
the state of being far above the ground
I don't like heights
10. (often plural)
a position of influence, fame, or power
the giddy heights they occupied in the 1980s
Word origin
Old English hīehthu; related to Old Norse hǣthe, Gothic hauhitha, Old High German hōhida; see high
height in American English
(haɪt)
noun
1.
the topmost point of anything
2.
the highest limit; greatest degree; extreme; climax; culmination
the height of absurdity
3.
the distance from the bottom to the top
4.
a.
elevation or distance above a given level, as above the surface of the earth or sea; altitude
b.
elevation (of the sun, a star, etc.) above the horizon, measured in degrees
5.
a.
a relatively great distance from bottom to top
b.
a relatively great distance above a given level
6. [often pl.]
a point or place considerably above most others; eminence; elevation; hill
7. Obsolete
high rank
SYNONYMY NOTE: height refers to distance from bottom to top [a figurine four inches in height] or to distance above a given level [he dropped it from a height of ten feet]; altitude, elevation refer especially to distance above a given level (usually the surface of the earth)and generally connote great distance [the altitude of an airplane, the elevation of a mountain]; stature refers especially to the height of a human being standing erect [he was short in stature]
Word origin
< earlier highth < ME heighthe < OE hiehthu (akin to Goth hauhitha) < heah: see high & -th1
COBUILD Collocations
height
adjust the height
ceiling height
chest height
maximum height
minimum height
Examples of 'height' in a sentence
height
And he proved he has a great head for heights.
The Sun (2016)
He covered ten yards with three big strides to gain maximum height from the jump off his strongest leg.
The Sun (2016)
We haven't hit the same heights.
The Sun (2016)
We enter our twenties bursting with ambition, keen to scale the heights in our careers.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Although the general standard of the rematch was patchy, some games hit new creative heights.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
I can't wait to hit the shops and buy clothes for my new height.
The Sun (2017)
I'm not a great one for heights.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But try it in Perth in the height of summer and your whites won't be white for long.
The Sun (2016)
I'm at the height of fashion, not swinging from a sale rail.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The height of summer is definitely a good time to get out of work mode.
The Sun (2013)
He does not deserve the opprobrium that has been heaped on him from great heights.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
She hit new heights but dredged the depths of old despair.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Dad always said that he liked the height of comfort without a trace of luxury.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Then there is the sheer height and weight.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
It is also less expensive than at the height of the season.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Visitors under one metre in height enter the park free of charge.
The Sun (2014)
There are hundreds of ivy varieties of different heights with varying shapes and sizes of leaves.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The research does not suggest that dinosaurs were shorter in length or height.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Well then you are the height of fashion.
The Sun (2014)
These curves show the gain in height for each year from birth through adolescence.
Bee, Helen The Developing Child (7th edn.) (1995)
This took a fair amount of getting used to for a man scared of heights.
The Sun (2015)
Nor can mutual aid arrangements meet the urgent need at the height of a crisis.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
It is the height of summer and yet nobody is within sight.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Many of them are lured by stories of the substantial gains made at the height of the boom.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Its only source of food at these extreme heights is stray insects that are blown up the mountainside by the wind.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
His designs suit different body shapes and heights, and they look amazing on all of us.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
He was of medium height, stocky with a rather florid complexion and powdered hair.
Paula Byrne PERDITA: The Life of Mary Robinson (2004)
Height rather than distance is key, with pressure applied by chasing attackers.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Has failed to hit heights and present form suggests that won't change.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
This raises the question of whether their height affects their body mass index, which is used to determine obesity.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
These are designed to withstand being dropped from great heights, as well as survive abuse from rain and sand.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
height
British English: height /haɪt/ NOUN
The height of a person or thing is their measurement from bottom to top.
Her weight is normal for her height.
American English: height
Arabic: إِرْتِفَاع
Brazilian Portuguese: altura
Chinese: 高度
Croatian: visina
Czech: výška
Danish: højde
Dutch: hoogte
European Spanish: altura general
Finnish: korkeus
French: hauteur
German: Höhe
Greek: ύψος
Italian: altezza
Japanese: 高さ
Korean: 높이
Norwegian: høyde
Polish: wysokość
European Portuguese: altura
Romanian: înălțime
Russian: высота
Latin American Spanish: altura
Swedish: längd
Thai: ความสูง
Turkish: yükseklik
Ukrainian: зріст
Vietnamese: chiều cao
All related terms of 'height'
x-height
the height of lower case letters of a typeface , without ascenders or descenders
head height
head level
spot height
a mark on a map indicating the height of a hill , mountain , etc
chest height
A particular height is the distance that something is above the ground or above something else mentioned .
height gauge
an object used to measure the height of somebody or something, for example to measure the height of people for medical purposes
ceiling height
A particular height is the distance that something is above the ground or above something else mentioned .
maximum height
The height of a person or thing is their size or length from the bottom to the top.
minimum height
The height of a person or thing is their size or length from the bottom to the top.
height advantage
An advantage is something that puts you in a better position than other people.
height of land
a watershed
adjust the height
A particular height is the distance that something is above the ground or above something else mentioned .
height restrictions
A restriction is an official rule that limits what you can do or that limits the amount or size of something.
height-to-paper
the overall height of printing plates and type, standardized as 0.9175 inch ( Brit ) and 0.9186 inch (US)
pulse height analyser
a multichannel analyser that sorts pulses into selected amplitude ranges
pulse height analyzer
an instrument that records or counts an electrical pulse if its amplitude falls within specified limits: used in nuclear physics research for the determination of energy spectra of nuclear radiations