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What is the difference between high and low?

high | low | Antonyms |

Low is a antonym of high.



In phonetics terms the difference between high and low

is that high is made with a high position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate while low is made, as a vowel, with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate.

In card games terms the difference between high and low

is that high is the highest card dealt or drawn while low is the lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.

As nouns the difference between high and low

is that high is thought; intention; determination; purpose while low is something that is low; a low point.

As adjectives the difference between high and low

is that high is elevated in position or status; above many things while low is in a position comparatively close to the ground.

As adverbs the difference between high and low

is that high is in or to an elevated position while low is close to the ground.

As verbs the difference between high and low

is that high is to rise while low is to depress; to lower.

high

English

(wikipedia high)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) . Related to (l).

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) Thought; intention; determination; purpose.

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) high, heigh, heih, from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * hi (informal)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Elevated in position or status; above many things.
  • * , chapter=4
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high ; I never see anybody so polite.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
    • , chapter=1 citation , passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.}}
  • Tall, lofty, at a great distance above the ground (at high altitude).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
    • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.}}
  • (figuratively) Noble, especially of motives, intentions, etc.
  • (slang) Under the psychological effects of a mood-affecting drug, especially marijuana, or (less common) alcohol.
  • Of a quantity or value, great or large.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Fenella Saunders, magazine=(American Scientist)
    • , title= Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture , passage=The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.}}
  • (acoustics) Of greater frequency, i.e. with more rapid wave oscillations.
  • (of a, body of water) With tall waves.
  • *
  • (of meat, especially venison) Strong-scented; slightly tainted/spoiled; beginning to decompose.
    • Epicures do not cook game before it is high .
  • Of great strength, force, importance, etc.; mighty; powerful; sometimes, triumphant; victorious; majestic, etc.
    • a high''' wind; '''high passions
  • * Bible, Psalms lxxxix. 13
    • Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
  • * Dryden
    • Can heavenly minds such high resentment show?
  • * Thackeray
    • with rather a high manner
  • Arrogant; lofty; boastful; proud.
  • * Bible, Proverbs xxi. 4
    • An high look and a proud heart is sin.
  • * Clarendon
    • His forces, after all the high discourses, amounted really but to eighteen hundred foot.
  • Very abstract; difficult to comprehend or surmount.
  • * Shakespeare
    • to hear and answer such high things
  • * Wordsworth
    • Plain living and high thinking are no more.
  • (phonetics) Made with a high position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate.
  • Possessing a characteristic quality in a supreme or superior degree.
    • high''' (i.e. intense) heat; '''high''' (i.e. full or quite) noon; '''high''' (i.e. rich or spicy) seasoning; '''high''' (i.e. complete) pleasure; '''high''' (i.e. deep or vivid) colour; '''high (i.e. extensive, thorough) scholarship
  • * Spenser
    • High time it is this war now ended were.
  • * Baker
    • High sauces and spices are fetched from the Indies.
    Antonyms
    * low
    Derived terms
    * at the high port * fly high * get high * high altar * high as a kite * high and dry * high and low * high and mighty * high-beam * high blood pressure * high-born * high C * high card * high chair * high-class * high concept * high cotton * high country * high court * high-definition * high-density * high-end * high-energy * high explosive * high fantasy * high fashion * high fidelity * high five/high-five * high-frequency * High German * high-handed * high-hanging * high-hat * high heels * high hopes/have high hopes * high horse/on one's high horse * high island * high jinks * high jump * high-level * high line * high-maintenance * High Mass * high-minded * high-mindedly * high nelly * high-octane * high on the hog * high-pitch * high-pitched * high-powered * high pressure/high-pressure * high priest * high profile * high-ranking * high relief * high-rise * high-risk * high road * high roller * high school * high sea * high season * high-sounding * high-speed * high-spirited * high spirits * high-stick * high street * high-strung * high tackle * high tea * high-tech * high tension * high-test * high tide * high time * high-toned * high touch * high treason * high water * high yaller * highfalutin * highlight * highly * highness/Highness * highway * in high dudgeon * junior high * knee-high * Mile High Club * Most High * on high * sky-high * ultra-high * thigh-high * waist-high (high)
    See also
    * mighty

    Adverb

    (er)
  • In or to an elevated position.
    • How high above land did you fly?
  • In or at a great value.
    • Costs have grown higher this year again.
  • In a pitch of great frequency.
    • I certainly can't sing that high .
    Usage notes
    * The adverb high' and the adverb ' highly shouldn't be confused. *: He hung the picture high on the wall. *: ''As a politician, he isn't esteemed too highly .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A period of euphoria, from excitement or from an intake of drugs.
  • * 2013 , Daniel Taylor, Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic climbs highest to sink Benfica'' (in ''The Guardian , 15 May 2013)[http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/15/benfica-chelsea-europa-league]
    • They will have to reflect on a seventh successive defeat in a European final while Chelsea try to make sense of an eccentric season rife with controversy and bad feeling but once again one finishing on an exhilarating high .
  • A drug that gives such a high.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= A new prescription , passage=No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs ” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.}}
  • (informal) A large area of elevated atmospheric pressure; an anticyclone.
  • The maximum atmospheric temperature recorded at a particular location, especially during one 24-hour period.
  • An elevated place; a superior region; a height; the sky; heaven.
  • (card games) The highest card dealt or drawn.
    • See also
    * crash

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To rise.
    • The sun higheth .

    Etymology 3

    See hie.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To hie; to hasten.
  • * Holland
    • Men must high them apace, and make haste.

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words

    low

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) lowe, lohe, . More at lie.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • In a position comparatively close to the ground.
  • Small in height.
  • Situated below the normal level, or the mean elevation.
  • Depressed, sad.
    • low spirits
    I felt low at Christmas with no family to celebrate with.
  • Not high in amount or quantity.
    • Food prices are lower in a supermarket than in a luxury department store.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits to low -tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.}}
  • Of a pitch, suggesting a lower frequency.
  • Quiet; soft; not loud.
  • Despicable; lacking dignity; vulgar.
    • a person of low mind
    a low trick or stratagem
  • Lacking health or vitality; feeble; weak.
    • a low pulse
    made low by sickness
  • Being near the equator.
    • the low northern latitudes
  • Humble in character or status.
  • * Milton
    • Why but to keep ye low and ignorant?
  • * Felton
    • In comparison of these divine writers, the noblest wits of the heathen world are low and dull.
  • Simple in complexity or development.
  • Designed for the slowest speed, as in low gear .
  • Articulated with a wide space between the flat tongue and the palette.
  • (phonetics) Made, as a vowel, with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate.
  • (archaic) Not rich, highly seasoned, or nourishing; plain; simple.
    • a low diet
    Synonyms
    * (in a position comparatively close to the ground) nether, underslung * (small in height) short, small * (depressed) blue, depressed, down, miserable, sad, unhappy, gloomy * reduced, devalued, low-level * low-pitched, deep, flat * low-toned, soft * (despicable thing to do) immoral, abject, scummy, scurvy
    Antonyms
    * (in a position comparatively close to the ground) high
    Derived terms
    * high and low * lowball * low blow * low bridge * low-budget * low-cost * Low Countries * low-cut * lower * lowercase * low-fat * Low German * low-grade * low island * lowland * Low Latin * low-level * low loader * lowly * low-lying * low road * low tide

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something that is low; a low point.
    • You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank.
    ''Economic growth has hit a new low .
  • A depressed mood or situation.
    • He is in a low right now
  • (meteorology) An area of low pressure; a depression.
  • The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.
    • Shift out of low before the car gets to eight miles per hour.
  • (card games) The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.
  • (slang) (usually accompanied by "the") a cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous payment or expense.
    • He got the brand new Yankees jersey for the low .

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Close to the ground.
  • Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Can sing both high and low .
  • With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.
    • to speak low
  • * Tennyson
    • The odorous wind / Breathes low between the sunset and the moon.
  • Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.
    • He sold his wheat low .
  • In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.
  • * '>citation
  • In a time approaching our own.
  • * John Locke
    • In that part of the world which was first inhabited, even as low down as Abraham's time, they wandered with their flocks and herds.
  • (astronomy) In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.
    • The moon runs low , i.e. comparatively near the horizon when on or near the meridian.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To depress; to lower.
    • (Jonathan Swift)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), from (etyl) . More at laugh.

    Verb

    (head)
  • .

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl) . More at claim.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To moo.
    • The cattle were lowing .
  • * Gray
    • The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea.

    Etymology 4

    From (etyl) lowe, loghe, from (etyl) . More at leye, light.

    Alternative forms

    * lowe

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable, UK, Scotland, dialect) A flame; fire; blaze.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (UK, Scotland, dialect) To burn; to blaze.
    • (Burns)

    Etymology 5

    From (etyl) . Obsolete by the 19th century, survives in toponymy as -low.

    Alternative forms

    * lawe

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • , mound, tumulus.
    • A barrow or Low, such as were usually cast up over the bodies of eminent Captains.'' (Robert Plot, ''The natural history of Staffordshire , 1686; cited after OED).
  • (Scottish dialectal, archaic) A hill.
    • And some they brought the brown lint-seed, and flung it down from the Low.'' (Mary Howitt, ''Ballads and other poems 1847)

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