high

/haɪ/ adjective

1. tall

● The shelves are 30 cm high.

● The door is not high enough to let us get the machines into the building.

● They are planning a 30-storey-high office block.

2. large, not low

● High overhead costs increase the unit price.

● High prices put customers off.

● They are budgeting for a high level of expenditure.

● High interest rates are crippling small businesses.

♦ high sales a large amount of revenue produced by sales

♦ high taxation taxation which imposes large taxes on incomes or profits

♦ highest tax bracket the group which pays the most tax

♦ high volume (of sales) a large number of items sold

3.

♦ the highest bidder the person who offers the most money at an auction

● The tender will be awarded to the highest bidder.

● The property was sold to the highest bidder.

■ adverb

♦ prices are running high prices are above their usual level

■ noun

a point where prices or sales are very large

● the highs and lows on the Stock Exchange

● Prices have dropped by 10% since the high of January 2nd.

● Prices have dropped by 10% since the January 2nd high.

♦ sales volume has reached an all-time high the sales volume has reached the highest point it has ever been at

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‘American interest rates remain exceptionally high in relation to likely inflation rates’ [Sunday Times]

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‘…faster economic growth would tend to push US interest rates, and therefore the dollar, higher’ [Australian Financial Review]

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‘…in a leveraged buyout the acquirer raises money by selling high-yielding debentures to private investors’ [Fortune]