High and low - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

# High and low

### From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

High and low are terms used to describe altitude. They can also mean several other things. “High” is the opposite of low. Generally, high means more of something and low means less of something.

## [edit] Height

Height (pronounce to rhyme with “bite”) is how far one thing is above another. It is usually the distance from the ground to something. It can also be the distance from the top of something to the bottom of it.

When talking about height

- High means that something is far from the ground.
- Low means that something is near the ground.
- If something goes up it goes higher.
- If something goes down it goes lower.
- High means more height, Low means less height.

Examples

- If something is put on a high shelf, it may not be able to be reached.
- If something is put on a low shelf, a person may need to bend down to reach it.
- When an Aeroplanes takes off, it start on the ground. It is very low. As it goes up, it gets farther from the ground and higher into the sky. When it lands, it starts high in the sky. As it goes down, it gets lower until it reaches the ground.

When measuring the height of something (the distance from the top of it to the bottom of it), this measurement is how tall something is.

Examples

- John is 1m 95cm tall. The distance from his head to his [foot|feet]] is 1m 95 cm.
- The Eiffel Tower is 300m tall. The distance from the top of the tower to its base (on the ground} is 300m.
- Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain. It is 8,848m from its base to its highest peak. The distance from the base of the mountain to the very top of it is greater than any other mountain.

### [edit] Above and Below

Above and below are terms used about where things are compared to each other. Something that is above something else is higher than it. Something that is below something else is lower than it. “Above” is the opposite of “below”.

Examples

If the cheese in the refrigerator is on the top shelf and the meat is on the bottom shelf, the cheese is above the meat. It is higher than the meat. The meat is below the cheese. It is lower than the cheese.

## [edit] Other meanings

The words “high” and “low” can be used in many ways which may not always mean “the distance from the ground”.

### [edit] Numbers

High numbers are big numbers. Low numbers are small numbers. If a number is greater than another number, it is higher than that number.

Examples

- 159.000 is a high number.
- 2 is a low number.
- 53 is higher than 21.
- 12 is lower than 200.

### [edit] Sound

The pitch of a sound (or a musical note) can be called “high” or “low”. How high or low a note is depends on the frequency of the vibrations. The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch of the sound.(See wave (physics)).

- Children have high voices; men have low voices (or "deep voices").
- The violin can play very high notes; the double bass can play very low notes.
- A squeak is a very high sound. Mice squeak.
- Elephants can make very low sounds.

### [edit] Special uses

High can mean advanced or greater.

- ”He took his studies of Japanese to a high level” (this means that he studied it for a long time and became very good at it).
- ”Higher education” means “advanced education” i.e. education at college or university.
- An athlete may do something that has a high degree of difficulty. It is very difficult to do what he did. A low degree of difficulty means it is very easy, or not hard.

Sometimes “high” and “low” mean something like “good” and “bad”.

- ”He has a high opinion of her” (He thinks she is very good).
- ”He has a low opinion of her”. (He thinks she is not very good).

High can mean an emotional condition. “He was high” means that he was over-excited. Being "high" is slang for how someone feels when they are taking drugs.

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Categories: Vocabulary | Measurement

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