overhead, upstairs, or in the sky: My brother lives in the apartment above. A flock of birds circled above.
higher in rank, authority, or power: She was told to speak to the person above.
higher in quantity or number: books with 100 pages and above.
before or earlier, especially in a book or other piece of writing; foregoing: the remark quoted above.Compare below (def. 6).
in or to heaven: gone to her eternal rest above.
Zoology. on the upper or dorsal side.
Theater. upstage.Compare below (def. 9).
higher than zero on the temperature scale: The temperature dropped to ten above this morning.
preposition
in or to a higher place than; over: to fly above the clouds; the floor above ours.
more in quantity or number than; in excess of: all girls above 12 years of age; The weight is above a ton.
superior in rank, authority, or standing to: A captain is above a lieutenant.
not subject or liable to; not capable of (some undesirable action, thought, etc.): above suspicion; to be above bad behavior.
of too fine a character for: He is above such trickery.
rather than; in preference to: to favor one child above the other.
beyond, especially north of: six miles above Baltimore.
Theater. upstage of.
adjective
said, mentioned, or written above; foregoing: the above explanation.
noun
something that was said, mentioned, or written above: to refer to the above.
the person or persons previously indicated: The above will all stand trial.
heaven: truly a gift from above.
a higher authority: an order from above.
Idioms for above
above all, most important of all; principally: charity above all.
Origin of above
before 900; Middle English above(n) (Cf. aboon), Old English abufan, onbufan (a-1, on + bufan above (cognate with Dutch boven), equivalent to b(e) by1 + ufan, cognate with Old Frisian uva,Old Saxon oban(a), Old High German obana,German oben,Old Norse ofan above; akin to over); see up; cf. about for formation
usage note for above
Above as an adjective ( the above data ) or as a noun ( study the above ) referring to what has been mentioned earlier in a piece of writing has long been standard. A few critics object to these uses in general writing, believing that they are more appropriate in business or technical contexts; they occur, however, in all kinds of edited writing.
Words nearby above
about face, about ship, about time, about to, about turn, above, above all, above and beyond, aboveboard, aboveground, abovementioned