high five

• high-five

From high +‎ five. The five refers to the five fingers of each hand.

• IPA^(key): /haɪ faɪv/
• (US) IPA^(key): /haɪ faɪv/

high five (countable and uncountable, plural high fives)

1. A gesture of celebration or victory in which two people slap the palms of their hands together at shoulder height or higher.
   • 1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 144:

     Through the window I could see Nikki and Kim doing high fives in the car.

2. A game which uses a technique providing a user with an emotional reward after they complete a minor task or achievement.
3. (card games, uncountable) The game of cinch.

• fist bump
• high ten
• low five

• gimme a five
• low five
• slap someone five

high five (third-person singular simple present high fives, present participle high fiving, simple past and past participle high fived)

1. (transitive) To slap high fives.
   • 2012 March 30, Joe Levy, “Rockers at Sea”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Like a lot of my fellow passengers — indie-rock fans who had signed up for a three-day voyage full of bands and beverages — I’d never been on a cruise before. So I don’t know whether most of them begin with a staff member high-fiving each and every person who comes off the gangway.

Unadapted borrowing from English high five.

• IPA^(key): /ɦɑjˈfɑjf/

• Audio:

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high five c (plural high fives)

1. high five (gesture)