Meaning & use
high-rise
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Describing a tall building with many floors, especially one used for apartments or offices.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: a high-rise building. It is not used after a verb.
Patterns
- high-rise building
- high-rise apartment
- high-rise block
They live in a high-rise apartment on the twentieth floor.
The city is full of high-rise buildings near the river.
A new high-rise hotel is being built next to the station.
nouncountable
A very tall building with many floors, usually containing apartments or offices.
Grammar: Countable: one high-rise, two high-rises.
Patterns
- live in a high-rise
- a high-rise in the city
She moved from a house into a high-rise downtown.
The skyline is crowded with high-rises.
Word forms
| plural | high-rises |
|---|
Common combinations
- high-rise apartment
- High-rise apartments are common in big cities.
- high-rise building
- The high-rise building has a view of the whole bay.
- high-rise block
- They tore down the old high-rise block.
- high-rise estate
- The high-rise estate was built in the 1970s.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tower block
- British English; a high-rise apartment building, often in a public housing area.
- skyscraper
- Usually for a very tall office building, not a normal apartment high-rise.
Opposites
Commonly confused: high-rise or high rise?
high-rise vs high rise
Written as two words, high rise can mean a rise in prices or temperature (a high rise in costs). The hyphen is used for the building.
Practice
They live in a ______ apartment on the tenth floor.
Choose one answer.
Before a noun, the adjective form is high-rise. High-rises is a plural noun and cannot modify another noun. High-rising and high risen are not standard words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “high-rise”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.