Definition of "above"

above

/əˈbʌv/

preposition
1. Physically over; on top of; worn on top of, said of clothing.
2. In or to a higher place; higher than; on or over the upper surface.
  Quotations
  And God said, Let the waters bring foorth aboundantly the mouing creature that hath life, and foule that may flie aboue the earth in the open firmament of heauen.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Genesis 1:20
  Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
  Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
  2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7
3. Farther north than.
4. Rising; appearing out of reach height-wise.
5. (figuratively) Higher than; superior to in any respect; surpassing; higher in measure, degree, volume, or pitch, etc. than; out of reach; not exposed to; not likely to be affected by; incapable of negative actions or thoughts.
  Quotations
  Thy worth, sweet friend, is far above my gifts,
  1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, act I, scene i
  At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightnes of the Sunne, shining round about mee, and them which iourneyed with me.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Acts 26:13
6. Higher in rank, status, or position.
  Quotations
  ☞ This word [wrap] is often pronounced wrop, rhyming with top, even by ſpeakers much above the vulgar.
  1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] ‎, London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, page 557
7. (Scotland) In addition to; besides.
8. Surpassing in number or quantity; more than.
9. In preference to.
10. Too proud to stoop to; averse to; disinclined towards;
11. Beyond; on the other side.
12. (theater) Upstage of.
adverb
not comparable
1. Directly overhead; vertically on top of.
  Quotations
  Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.
  2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8835, page 80
2. Higher in the same page; earlier in the order as far as writing products go.
  Quotations
  Nobody has lived in it since the summer of 1879, and it is fast going to pieces. For some three years before the date mentioned above, it was occupied by the family of Charles May
  1913, Ambrose Bierce, Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories
  That angels are men in the most complete form, and enjoy every sense, may be seen above (n. 73-77); and that the light in heaven is far brighter than the light in the world (n. 126-132).
  1905, Emanuel Swedenborg, chapter 19, in Heaven and Hell
3. Into or from heaven; in the sky.
4. In a higher place; upstairs; farther upstream.
5. Higher in rank, power, or position.
6. (archaic) In addition.
7. More in number.
8. Above zero; above freezing.
9. (biology) On the upper half or the dorsal surface of an animal.
adjective
not comparable
1. Of heaven; heavenly.
2. (by ellipsis) Being located higher on the same page or on a preceding page.
noun
uncountable
1. Heaven.
  Quotations
  A brother from another mother, sent from the above.
  1998, “Twinz”, in Capital Punishment, performed by Big Pun and Fat Joe
2. Something, especially a person's name in legal documents, that appears higher on the same page or on a preceding page.
3. Higher authority.
4. (archaic) betterment, raised status or condition.
  Quotations
  Withal they saw of him that he had no doubt but that they should come to their above on the morrow,
  1896, William Morris, The Well at the World's End