high-leveladj.
/ˌhʌɪˈlɛvl/, U.S. /ˈhaɪˈˌlɛvəl/ 1.
a. Situated or occurring relatively far above ground level or some other downward limit; situated at a level higher up than that of something else.
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the world > space > relative position > high position > [adjective]
highOE
high-seta1382
sovereigna1425
airy1565
sublime?1567
haughty1570
supernal1599
aerial1608
upward1622
high-top1653
superincumbent1659
supern1703
highish1778
high-up1831
high-level1842
altitudinous1868
1842 Jrnl. Senate Illinois 13 41 A small high level canal, amply sufficient for the purposes of trade for years to come.
1876 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 32 185 The altitude of high-level drift on the western slopes of the Pennine chain.
1925 E. F. Norton in E. F. Norton et al. Fight for Everest: 1924 35 It enabled us to..have a welcome bath, and generally ease off after our first taste of high-level marching.
1950 T. S. Lovering & E. N. Goddard Geol. & Ore Deposits Front Range Colorado 19/1 There is commonly a well-marked terrace intermediate between the high-level and low-level terraces.
1985 D. Holloway Which? Bk. Plumbing & Central Heating (1992) 11/3 With a high-level cistern, the likely problem is dirt.
2010 Art Q. Summer 130/1 Some 425 porcelain pots by the artist are arranged..on a high-level lacquer-red shelf.
b. spec. Designating a military air operation involving high flying, or a military aircraft designed to undertake operations of this kind.
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1939 Jrnl. Royal United Service Inst. Feb. 776 We cannot depend to any great extent on high-level bombing out of range of their rifle fire.
1943 Aeronaut. Engin. Rev. Apr. 59/3 The removal of objections against high-level daylight raids..[is] specified.
1954 D. Richards & H. Saunders Royal Air Force 1939–1945 xi. 222 The enemy had been driven into the same tactics as in the closing stages of the Battle of Britain—the tactics of high-level fighter and fighter-bomber sweeps.
2013 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 25 Apr. a9 NATO air strikes—mostly high-level bombing of targets in the open—are insufficient to tip the balance.
2.
a. High in amount, strength, or degree of intensity; of a level above that which is standard or average.
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1860 Daily News 25 Feb. 4/5 We have entered on a high-level expenditure.
1910 Rep. Dairy & Cold Storage Commissioner (Canad. Dept. Agric.) 29 This high level production seems usually to go hand in hand with unswerving allegiance to one good fixed type.
1969 H. Perkin Key Profession v. 209 A long-term high-level demand for university places.
1980 A. I. Rubin & J. Elder Building for People iv. x. 139/3 A temporary hearing loss..can result from short-term exposure to high-level noise.
2005 Sunday Tel. (Sydney) 11 Sept. (Queensland ed.) 5/1 Prayer halls have come under high-level scrutiny..in recent years.
b. spec. Designating strong radioactivity and strongly and persistently radioactive nuclear waste which requires long-term storage in isolation.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > [adjective] > high, to point of danger
hot1942
high-level1947
1947 Chem. & Engin. News 22 Dec. 3797/1 For the present, all high level radioactive waste should be stored or buried in especially selected and approved locations.
1963 Wall St. Jrnl. 22 Jan. Kirtland researchers are delving into plasma physics..to determine to what extent high-level nuclear blasts are likely to disrupt vital communications.
1980 Nature 17 Jan. 282/1 Synthetic zirconolite..has been proposed as a constituent phase of an artificial rock ( synroc) which may immobilise, in solid solution, the elements occurring in high-level nuclear reactor wastes.
1995 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 29 July 2 Further nuclear blasts will seriously damage the reef and..high-level radiation may begin leaking into the Pacific Ocean.
2010 New Scientist 6 Mar. 22/4 The fission reaction can burn a range of fuels, including the long-lived high-level nuclear waste produced in conventional fission reactors.
3.
a. Of or relating to a complex or sophisticated form, level, or standard. Also: relating to or concerned with a subject, system, or phenomenon as a whole, rather than its particular details.
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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > making greater in importance > made greater in importance
uphovenc1175
uplifteda1300
uplift1303
greata1400
stately1586
aggrandized1790
weighted1879
high-level1909
1909 O. S. Wood in Business Admin. 369 All minds are not built for high-level thinking. Advertising must be simple.
1965 N. Chomsky Aspects Theory Syntax iv. 153 Deviation from selectional rules involving high-level features is apparently more serious than deviation from sectional rules involving lower-level features.
1974 B. A. Ketchledge in H. J. Highland Computer Performance Eval. 46/1 Analysis of vendor ‘high level’ (overview) documentation.
1990 Industr. Engin. (Nexis) 22 49 A high level or ‘macro’ level model encompassing all major elements of the system was developed first.
2013 N.Y. Mag. 17 June 6 They espoused wondrous theories of high-level imagimathematics.
b. Computing. Of a programming language: largely independent of the structure of any particular computer, and bearing some resemblance to an existing symbolism or language (as English). Cf. low-level adj. 4b.
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1959 Electr. Engin. (U.S.) 78 515/1 An increasing number [of programs] are written in a high-level language such as Fortran.
1972 Computer Jrnl. 15 195/1 The main purpose of a high-level language is to make programs and programming more intelligible to human beings.
1991 Personal Computer World Feb. 238/2 It may be possible to write a PM [= Presentation Manager] program in a high-level language and compile it to run on a variety of computers.
2013 Economist: Babbage (Nexis) 29 Apr. Arriving at university with a knowledge of several assembly and high-level programming languages.
4. Of high rank, authority, or importance. Also: relating to or involving people of high rank or authority.
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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of people
mosta1300
principala1382
principal?a1425
capitalc1475
supreme1496
chief1535
leading1631
staple1642
big league1917
high-level1947
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of things
principalc1300
principal1417
supremec1550
capital1597
hegemonic1656
vital1810
big time1914
high-level1947
1947 Chronol. Internat. Events & Documents (Royal Institute Internat. Affairs) 3 476 The Government had agreed to hold a high level meeting to discuss the British loan.
1959 Daily Tel. 8 July 10/3 The proposed policy of continual high-level talks with Russia, extending over the next few years, has its opponents.
1972 National Observer (U.S.) 27 May 14/1 Way up in the high-level social circles are those who are so rich they never, ever talk about money.
2010 Atlantic Monthly June 72/1 Porras is part of a loose community of high-level geeks who guard computer systems and monitor the health of the Internet.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1842