above

adverb

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\ ə-ˈbəv

Definition of above

(Entry 1 of 4)

1a : in the sky : overhead the clouds above

b : in or to heaven

2a : in or to a higher place

b : higher on the same page or on a preceding page except as stated above

c : upstairs

d : above zero 10 degrees above

3 : in or to a higher rank or number 30 and above

4 archaic : in addition : besides

5 : upstage

above

preposition

Definition of above (Entry 2 of 4)

1a : in or to a higher place than : over a room above the store

b : upriver of anchored about 10 miles above the city

2a : superior to (as in rank, quality, or degree) A sergeant is above a corporal.

b : out of reach of above suspicion

c : in preference to puts his child's needs above his own needs

d : too proud or honorable to stoop to not above taking undue credit

3 : exceeding in number, quantity, or size : more than men above 50 years old

4 : as distinct from and in addition to heard the whistle above the roar of the crowd

above

noun

plural above

Definition of above (Entry 3 of 4)

1a : something that is above Select one of the above.

b : a person whose name is written above Contact any of the above for more information.

2a : a higher authority

b : heaven

above

adjective

Definition of above (Entry 4 of 4)

: written or discussed higher on the same page or on a preceding page Contact me at the above address.

Synonyms & Antonyms Using Above as an Adjective or Noun: Usage Guide More Example Sentences Learn More about above

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Synonyms & Antonyms for above

Synonyms: Adverb

Synonyms: Preposition

over

Synonyms: Noun

Antonyms: Adverb

Antonyms: Preposition

Antonyms: Noun

Using Above as an Adjective or Noun: Usage Guide

Noun

Although still objected to by some, the use of above as a noun to mean "something that is above" none of the above the above is Theseus's opinion — William Blake and as an adjective without the above reserve — O. W. Holmes †1935 I was brought up on the above words — Viscount Montgomery has been long established as standard.

Examples of above in a Sentence

Adverb up above and down below Temperatures range from 5 below to 5 above. Preposition He raised his arms above his head. They hung a mirror above the mantel. We rented an apartment above a restaurant. Temperatures were above average all week. men above 50 years old She values her private time above her fame. He puts his child's needs above his own. Noun in her dying days she was supposedly visited by an angel from above

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb And there’s no accountability or explanation from above. — Dan Shaughnessy, BostonGlobe.com, "The Red Sox still have us scratching our heads, and other thoughts," 12 Feb. 2021 Please realize that finding her phone before her departure was a gift to you from above. — Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, "Dear Abby: Dose of truth tarnishes warm memories of departed uncle," 31 Jan. 2021 Seeing him from above, his gaze did not come off as quite so piercing. — Town & Country, "Sotheby’s is Selling the Ultimate Renaissance Painting," 21 Jan. 2021 Rioters who had scaled the scaffolding were on an upper terrace pelting officers with debris from above. — Peter Hermann, Anchorage Daily News, "Beaten with their own clubs, choked by bear spray: How battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob," 15 Jan. 2021 The first images most people saw on Jan. 6 were from above, with attendees at a rally where President Donald Trump spoke who eventually moved, like sea water in a tsunami, toward and around the U.S. Capitol. — David Bauder, ajc, "Riot? Insurrection? Words matter in describing Capitol siege," 14 Jan. 2021 The first images most people saw on Jan. 6 were from above, with attendees at a rally where President Donald Trump spoke who eventually moved, like sea water in a tsunami, toward and around the U.S. Capitol. — David Bauder, Star Tribune, "Riot? Insurrection? Words matter in describing Capitol siege," 14 Jan. 2021 Rioters who had scaled the scaffolding were on an upper terrace pelting officers with debris from above. — Peter Hermann, Washington Post, "How battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob," 14 Jan. 2021 Sony did not offer a lot of information about the drone, but showed a video of it – outfitted with a Sony Alpha 7S III camera – tracking the electronics company's in-development Vision-S electric high-tech vehicle from above. — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, "Sony unveils new Airpeak drone at CES 2021. The small unmanned aerial vehicle shoots 4K movie videos from above," 12 Jan. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Preposition Typically, trivia challenges don’t require the competitors to do anything but sit or stand above water. — Kyndall Cunningham, Vulture, "The Challenge: Double Agents Recap: Trivial Pursuit," 11 Feb. 2021 Myers, 37, said the company managed to stay above water through loans from family members and the use of her personal credit cards. — Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News, "9 million U.S. small businesses fear they won't survive pandemic," 9 Feb. 2021 On Friday, 19% of patients in the hospital region covering the Dallas-Fort Worth area were COVID-19 patients — above the 15% threshold the state has used to define high hospitalizations. — Dallas News, "Tarrant County reports 40 more COVID-19 deaths; Dallas County adds 10 fatalities, 1,024 new cases," 6 Feb. 2021 The three-day requirement has proved tricker for providers; only three health systems are above the 90% threshold while four are below 80%. — Jeremy Olson, Star Tribune, "Signs of vaccinations paying off emerge in Minnesota," 2 Feb. 2021 Henriksen's great navigating the father's constantly changing moods and unpredictable mental state, and Mortensen's top notch as a man trying desperately to keep his head above water. — Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, "What to stream this weekend: Netflix's 'Malcolm & Marie,' Amazon Prime's 'Bliss,' 'Falling'," 4 Feb. 2021 Made of 180 miles of twine, with 1.6 million knots, the billowing net is 424 feet long and 72 feet above ground at its highest point. — Ellen Albanese, BostonGlobe.com, "The St. Pete Pier is part park, part playground, part marketplace — and all new," 3 Feb. 2021 Instead, the figures will keep their heads above water and survive the COVID-19 pandemic. — Sheila Grissett | Staff Writer, NOLA.com, "Good Times: Keeping our heads above water at Mardi Gras and beyond," 30 Jan. 2021 The searchlight fell upon a pair of heads and shoulders rising above the water. — New York Times, "Risking Everything to Come to America on the Open Ocean," 28 Jan. 2021 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The above comes from Amy Francis-Smith, vice president of the Birmingham Architecture Association, England. — Eamon Barrett, Fortune, "Hard conversations need great design," 24 Nov. 2020 All of the above is based on what is known about the virus now. — Kent Somers, The Arizona Republic, "Can the Pac-12 really play football games in the spring? It's doubtful," 15 Aug. 2020 All of the above is to say: there's a mountain of content on HBO Max, and quite a bit of stuff that counts as both popular and critically acclaimed, but the service does an awful job of laying out a mat for new users to discover it. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "HBO Max is live: $15/mo for a massive library, significant headaches," 27 May 2020 For some of us, none-of-the-above is a viable option. — Giovanni Russonello, New York Times, "Who Can Beat Trump? Who Knows?," 20 Feb. 2020 The authentic visual above was posted by the climate scientist Ed Hawkins, from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. — Jeff Berardelli, CBS News, "2,000 years of Earth's climate in one simple chart – and the copycat that isn't what it seems," 30 Jan. 2020 To see images taken from high above was to realize this still novel technology might one day show far more than previously imagined. — Peter Manseau, Smithsonian, "Meet Mr. Mumler, the Man Who “Captured” Lincoln’s Ghost on Camera," 11 Oct. 2017 After the war, however, Roman coins (like the one above) match the signature of the silver mines in the Iberian Peninsula. — Lizzie Wade, Science | AAAS, "This coin reveals when Rome became an empire," 14 Aug. 2017 All of the above are made from chemicals or materials that are bad for the environment, so follow Forecastle's lead and stay away from the cliche party accessories. 5. — Bailey Loosemore, The Courier-Journal, "5 ways to help save the planet at Forecastle Festival," 6 July 2017 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Big trees, with trunks more than 21 inches in diameter, make up just 3% of these forests but store 42% of the above-ground carbon. — William Moomaw, The Conversation, "Keeping trees in the ground where they are already growing is an effective low-tech way to slow climate change," 22 Feb. 2021 All of the above-ground work — which totaled $7 million — was approved by the State House Trust, which oversees all projects in the complex. — Pamela Wood, baltimoresun.com, "Lawyers Mall, the state capital’s First Amendment gathering space, to reopen after two years of repairs," 27 Nov. 2020 In this case, Virgin’s hyperloop contraption in Nevada involves an above-ground tube with a pod that zoomed through it. — Rob Verger, Popular Science, "The first hyperloop passengers just took a short but important ride," 11 Nov. 2020 Connected to an above-ground container, the tube would draw up wastewater samples in 15 minute intervals for 24 hours. — Naseem S. Miller, orlandosentinel.com, "Rollins Colleges taps into wastewater to track COVID-19 on campus," 23 Oct. 2020 CPS Energy, however, has about twice as many above-ground cables as Austin Energy. — Diego Mendoza-moyers, ExpressNews.com, "Outages few and far between for CPS Energy customers in 2019," 10 Oct. 2020 Strangers waved from an above-ground pool at me and a woman a few chairs over. — Richard Morgan, Condé Nast Traveler, "A Coast-to-Coast Train Trip Restored My Faith in Travel," 30 Sep. 2020 The High Line attracts millions of visitors a year as an above-ground park stretching 1.45 miles along the west side of Manhattan. — Sophie Vershbow, Vogue, "In a Pandemic, Rediscovering What Home Means," 5 Sep. 2020 The bottom of the formation also is similar to an above-ground root system. — Antonio Fins, USA TODAY, "Fact Check: Devil's Tower National Monument was formed by magma; tree claim is false," 29 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'above.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of above

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Preposition

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1691, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Adjective

circa 1515, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for above

Adverb

Middle English above, aboven, going back to Old English abufan, from a- a- entry 1 + bufan "above" (akin to Old Saxon bi-oƀan, Middle Dutch bōven, Old Frisian bova, Middle High German bobene), from be- be- + ufan "above, from above," going back to Germanic *uban- (whence Old Saxon oƀana "from above," Old High German obana), from *ub- "above, on" + *-an-, adverbial suffix — more at over entry 1