altitude

«altitude» in Mova's school dictionary: how high something is above the level of the sea or above… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (altitude, altitudes)

meaning for a pupil

1) Altitude is how high something is above the level of the sea or above the ground, as for a plane, mountain or town. tree →

2) (maths) In a triangle, the altitude is the line straight down from a corner to the opposite side, at a right angle; its length is the height. tree →

sense in the lessons

In geography and science altitude tells how high a place or plane is; air gets thinner and colder at high altitude. In maths it is the height of a triangle, used in area = half × base × height. Phrases: «at high altitude», «gain altitude», «lose altitude», «altitude sickness».

examples

• The plane flew at an altitude of 10,000 metres. tree →
• At high altitude it is harder to breathe. tree →
• The pilot began to lose altitude before landing. tree →
• Some climbers get altitude sickness. tree →
• Draw the altitude of the triangle from the top corner. tree →
• The town sits at an altitude of 2,000 metres above sea level. tree →

note

Usually uncountable for the idea («at altitude»), countable for values («different altitudes»). Altitude is height above sea level; «height» can be from any base. Maths: the altitude meets the base at a right angle; it is not the slanted side.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «altitude» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.