High \High\, a. [Compar. Higher; superl. Highest.] [OE.
high, hegh, hey, heh, AS. he['a]h, h?h; akin to OS. h?h,
OFries. hag, hach, D. hoog, OHG. h?h, G. hoch, Icel. h?r, Sw.
h["o]g, Dan. h["o]i, Goth. hauhs, and to Icel. haugr mound,
G. h["u]gel hill, Lith. kaukaras.]
1. Elevated above any starting point of measurement, as a
line, or surface; having altitude; lifted up; raised or
extended in the direction of the zenith; lofty; tall; as,
a high mountain, tower, tree; the sun is high.
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2. Regarded as raised up or elevated; distinguished;
remarkable; conspicuous; superior; -- used indefinitely or
relatively, and often in figurative senses, which are
understood from the connection; as
(a) Elevated in character or quality, whether moral or
intellectual; pre["e]minent; honorable; as, high aims,
or motives. "The highest faculty of the soul."
--Baxter.
(b) Exalted in social standing or general estimation, or
in rank, reputation, office, and the like; dignified;
as, she was welcomed in the highest circles.
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He was a wight of high renown. --Shak.
(c) Of noble birth; illustrious; as, of high family.
(d) Of great strength, force, importance, and the like;
strong; mighty; powerful; violent; sometimes,
triumphant; victorious; majestic, etc.; as, a high
wind; high passions. "With rather a high manner."
--Thackeray.
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Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
--Ps. lxxxix.
13.
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Can heavenly minds such high resentment show?
--Dryden.
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(e) Very abstract; difficult to comprehend or surmount;
grand; noble.
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Both meet to hear and answer such high things.
--Shak.
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Plain living and high thinking are no more.
--Wordsworth.
(f) Costly; dear in price; extravagant; as, to hold goods
at a high price.
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If they must be good at so high a rate, they
know they may be safe at a cheaper. --South.
(g) Arrogant; lofty; boastful; proud; ostentatious; --
used in a bad sense.
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An high look and a proud heart . . . is sin.
--Prov. xxi.
4.
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His forces, after all the high discourses,
amounted really but to eighteen hundred foot.
--Clarendon.
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3. Possessing a characteristic quality in a supreme or
superior degree; as, 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) color; high (i. e., extensive, thorough)
scholarship, etc.
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High time it is this war now ended were. --Spenser.
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High sauces and spices are fetched from the Indies.
--Baker.
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4. (Cookery) Strong-scented; slightly tainted; as, epicures
do not cook game before it is high.
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5. (Mus.) Acute or sharp; -- opposed to grave or low; as,
a high note.
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6. (Phon.) Made with a high position of some part of the
tongue in relation to the palate, as [=e] ([=e]ve), [=oo]
(f[=oo]d). See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 10,
11.
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High admiral, the chief admiral.
High altar, the principal altar in a church.
High and dry, out of water; out of reach of the current or
tide; -- said of a vessel, aground or beached.
High and mighty arrogant; overbearing. [Colloq.]
High art, art which deals with lofty and dignified subjects
and is characterized by an elevated style avoiding all
meretricious display.
High bailiff, the chief bailiff.
High Church, & Low Church, two ecclesiastical parties in
the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The high-churchmen emphasize the doctrine of the apostolic
succession, and hold, in general, to a sacramental
presence in the Eucharist, to baptismal regeneration, and
to the sole validity of Episcopal ordination. They attach
much importance to ceremonies and symbols in worship.
Low-churchmen lay less stress on these points, and, in
many instances, reject altogether the peculiar tenets of
the high-church school. See Broad Church.
High constable (Law), a chief of constabulary. See
Constable, n., 2.
High commission court, a court of ecclesiastical
jurisdiction in England erected and united to the regal
power by Queen Elizabeth in 1559. On account of the abuse
of its powers it was abolished in 1641.
High day (Script.), a holy or feast day. --John xix. 31.
High festival (Eccl.), a festival to be observed with full
ceremonial.
High German, or High Dutch. See under German.
High jinks, an old Scottish pastime; hence, noisy revelry;
wild sport. [Colloq.] "All the high jinks of the county,
when the lad comes of age." --F. Harrison.
High latitude (Geog.), one designated by the higher
figures; consequently, a latitude remote from the equator.
High life, life among the aristocracy or the rich.
High liver, one who indulges in a rich diet.
High living, a feeding upon rich, pampering food.
High Mass. (R. C. Ch.) See under Mass.
High milling, a process of making flour from grain by
several successive grindings and intermediate sorting,
instead of by a single grinding.
High noon, the time when the sun is in the meridian.
High place (Script.), an eminence or mound on which
sacrifices were offered.
High priest. See in the Vocabulary.
High relief. (Fine Arts) See Alto-rilievo.
High school. See under School.
High seas (Law), the open sea; the part of the ocean not in
the territorial waters of any particular sovereignty,
usually distant three miles or more from the coast line.
--Wharton.
High steam, steam having a high pressure.
High steward, the chief steward.
High tea, tea with meats and extra relishes.
High tide, the greatest flow of the tide; high water.
High time.
(a) Quite time; full time for the occasion.
(b) A time of great excitement or enjoyment; a carousal.
[Slang]
High treason, treason against the sovereign or the state,
the highest civil offense. See Treason.
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Note: It is now sufficient to speak of high treason as
treason simply, seeing that petty treason, as a
distinct offense, has been abolished. --Mozley & W.
High water, the utmost flow or greatest elevation of the
tide; also, the time of such elevation.
High-water mark.
(a) That line of the seashore to which the waters
ordinarily reach at high water.
(b) A mark showing the highest level reached by water in a
river or other body of fresh water, as in time of
freshet.
High-water shrub (Bot.), a composite shrub (Iva
frutescens), growing in salt marshes along the Atlantic
coast of the United States.
High wine, distilled spirits containing a high percentage
of alcohol; -- usually in the plural.
To be on a high horse, to be on one's dignity; to bear
one's self loftily. [Colloq.]
With a high hand.
(a) With power; in force; triumphantly. "The children of
Israel went out with a high hand." --Ex. xiv. 8.
(b) In an overbearing manner, arbitrarily. "They governed
the city with a high hand." --Jowett (Thucyd. ).
Syn: Tall; lofty; elevated; noble; exalted; supercilious;
proud; violent; full; dear. See Tall.
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High priest
Aaron was the first who was solemnly set apart to this office
(Ex. 29:7; 30:23; Lev. 8:12). He wore a peculiar dress, which on
his death passed to his successor in office (Ex. 29:29, 30).
Besides those garments which he wore in common with all priests,
there were four that were peculiar to himself as high priest:
(1.) The "robe" of the ephod, all of blue, of "woven work,"
worn immediately under the ephod. It was without seam or
sleeves. The hem or skirt was ornamented with pomegranates and
golden bells, seventy-two of each in alternate order. The
sounding of the bells intimated to the people in the outer court
the time when the high priest entered into the holy place to
burn incense before the Lord (Ex. 28).
(2.) The "ephod" consisted of two parts, one of which covered
the back and the other the breast, which were united by the
"curious girdle." It was made of fine twined linen, and
ornamented with gold and purple. Each of the shoulder-straps was
adorned with a precious stone, on which the names of the twelve
tribes were engraved. This was the high priest's distinctive
vestment (1 Sam. 2:28; 14:3; 21:9; 23:6, 9; 30:7).
(3.) The "breastplate of judgment" (Ex. 28:6-12, 25-28;
39:2-7) of "cunning work." It was a piece of cloth doubled, of
one span square. It bore twelve precious stones, set in four
rows of three in a row, which constituted the Urim and Thummim
(q.v.). These stones had the names of the twelve tribes engraved
on them. When the high priest, clothed with the ephod and the
breastplate, inquired of the Lord, answers were given in some
mysterious way by the Urim and Thummim (1 Sam. 14:3, 18, 19;
23:2, 4, 9, 11,12; 28:6; 2 Sam. 5:23).
(4.) The "mitre," or upper turban, a twisted band of eight
yards of fine linen coiled into a cap, with a gold plate in
front, engraved with "Holiness to the Lord," fastened to it by a
ribbon of blue.
To the high priest alone it was permitted to enter the holy of
holies, which he did only once a year, on the great Day of
Atonement, for "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made
manifest" (Heb. 9; 10). Wearing his gorgeous priestly vestments,
he entered the temple before all the people, and then, laying
them aside and assuming only his linen garments in secret, he
entered the holy of holies alone, and made expiation, sprinkling
the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat, and offering up
incense. Then resuming his splendid robes, he reappeared before
the people (Lev. 16). Thus the wearing of these robes came to be
identified with the Day of Atonement.
The office, dress, and ministration of the high priest were
typical of the priesthood of our Lord (Heb. 4:14; 7:25; 9:12,
etc.).
It is supposed that there were in all eighty-three high
priests, beginning with Aaron (B.C. 1657) and ending with
Phannias (A.D. 70). At its first institution the office of high
priest was held for life (but comp. 1 Kings 2:27), and was
hereditary in the family of Aaron (Num. 3:10). The office
continued in the line of Eleazar, Aaron's eldest son, for two
hundred and ninety-six years, when it passed to Eli, the first
of the line of Ithamar, who was the fourth son of Aaron. In this
line it continued to Abiathar, whom Solomon deposed, and
appointed Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, in his stead (1 Kings
2:35), in which it remained till the time of the Captivity.
After the Return, Joshua, the son of Josedek, of the family of
Eleazar, was appointed to this office. After him the succession
was changed from time to time under priestly or political
influences.
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