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# heighten

verb (heighten, heightens, heightened, heightening)

«heighten» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To make a feeling, effect or danger stronger or greater. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#m1)
2. To make something higher or taller (rare in everyday talk). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#m2)
3. (formal) To increase, as in «heightened security» or «heightened risk». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#m3)

### In the lessons

In stories it tells the reader that tension, fear or excitement is growing: «The silence heightened her fear.» In science and news it means something got stronger: «heightened awareness», «heightened alert». In safety talk: «Smoke heightens the danger of fire.» Common phrases: heighten the tension, heighten awareness, heightened senses.

### Examples

- The creaking door heightened our fear. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x1)
- Music in a film can heighten the excitement. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x2)
- Police were on heightened alert after the storm. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x3)
- Eating sugar before bed may heighten a child's energy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x4)
- The poster aims to heighten awareness of road safety. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x5)
- Her senses were heightened in the dark forest. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x6)
- Builders heightened the wall to keep the goats in. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x7)
- The close score heightened the tension in the last minute. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x8)
- The clay itself seemed inspired since she had been there, and moulded itself, in heightened beauty, to a likeness of the well-known features. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/#x9)

### Note

Regular verb: heightened. Related: height (noun), high (adjective), heighten (verb). Spelling trap: height has no «th» at the end, it is «-ght». Used far more for feelings and effects than for actual height; for making things taller people usually say «raise» or «make higher». Not a maths word: «heighten» does not give a number.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «heighten» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/heighten/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«heighten» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/heighten.html) on Mova free.