highball

English

Tom Collins, a typical highball (1)

Etymology

high +‎ ball, of the same railroad origins as lowball.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

highball (plural highballs)

1. A cocktail made from a spirit plus soda water etc.
2. (rail transport) An all clear or full speed ahead signal.
3. (climbing) A very high bouldering problem, often with a hard landing.
   • 2014, EpicTV.com

     Austrian all rounder Alex Luger climbs what he describes as a highball boulder problem and what most people would call a solo.

Derived terms

• highballer
• highball glass

Descendants

• Japanese: ハイボール, ハイ

Translations

type of cocktail

• Finnish: grogi (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

highball (third-person singular simple present highballs, present participle highballing, simple past and past participle highballed)

1. To make an estimate which tends toward exaggeration.

   Antonym: lowball

   If we highball the price, it comes out to $240. If we lowball it, it's closer to $200.

2. (US, slang, possibly dated) To move quickly; to hightail.
   • 1959, Steam's Finest Hour, edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co. (photo caption):

     Booster-equipped 628 highballs west at Glen Lake, Minn., back in 1947.

Translations

to make a high estimate

• Finnish: yliarvioida (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}