high noon

English

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Noun

high noon (plural high noons)

  1. (idiomatic) Exactly noon; midday (when the sun is at its highest).
    Synonyms: noontime, noontide, nones; see also Thesaurus:midday
    Coordinate term: noonish
    The same streets that are inviting and quiet at high noon may be intimidating at night.
  2. (idiomatic, figuratively) The zenith or apex of one's life or of a certain activity or era.
    Synonyms: noontime, noontide
  3. (idiomatic) A time, set out in advance, at which an important decision is to be made or a nemesis is to be confronted.
    • 1860 February 17 [1860 January 27], William Lloyd Garrison, “Speech of Wm. Lloyd Garrison, at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, In the Tremont Temple, Boston, Jan. 27, 1860”, in The Liberator‎[1], volume XXX, number 7, page 26:
      […] whereas, ten years since, there were thousands who could not endure my lightest word of rebuke to the South, they can now easily swallow John Brown whole, and his rifle into the bargain. In firing his gun, he has merely told us what time of day it is. It is high noon, thank God!

Usage notes

For high noon versus twelve o'clock high, see twelve o'clock § Usage notes.

See also

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.