1
: being multistory and equipped with elevators
high-rise apartments
2
: of, relating to, or characterized by high-rise buildings
a high-rise complex
3
: having a longer than standard rise (see rise entry 2 sense 7)
high-rise jeans
There are boxer shorts, low-rise briefs, high-rise briefs, … and colors galore.—
Nancy Lawson
Nancy Lawson
variants
or less commonly high rise
plural high-rises also high rises
: a building (such as an apartment building) that has multiple stories and is equipped with elevators
They live on the tenth floor of a high-rise.
Examples of high-rise in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Officials celebrated the groundbreaking Monday for Trinity Central Flats, a $130 million mixed-use high-rise that will house 218 apartments on Trinity Avenue downtown.
—Riley Bunch, AJC.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Brent Lang, Variety, 29 Mar. 2026
This cluster of high-rises is squeezed between the bridge and the water, on one side, and, crucially for this story, neighboring parks and expensive single-family homes on the other.
—Alex Mayyasi, NPR, 27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for high-rise
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Adjective
The elevator shutdowns became so frequent during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that elderly Cathay Manor residents described being trapped as virtual prisoners in their high-rise units.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Officials celebrated the groundbreaking Monday for Trinity Central Flats, a $130 million mixed-use high-rise that will house 218 apartments on Trinity Avenue downtown.
—Riley Bunch, AJC.com, 17 Mar. 2026
Noun
The horror film stars Zazie Beetz as a housekeeper who works in a sinister high-rise apartment.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 29 Mar. 2026
This cluster of high-rises is squeezed between the bridge and the water, on one side, and, crucially for this story, neighboring parks and expensive single-family homes on the other.
—Alex Mayyasi, NPR, 27 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for high-rise
Cite this Entry
“High-rise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/high-rise. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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