lowest

Everyday

1. Lowest means the least high, nearest the ground or the bottom. The lowest shelf is the one nearest the floor. tree →
2. Lowest means the smallest in number or amount: the lowest score, price or temperature. tree →
3. Lowest means the quietest or deepest in sound: the lowest note. tree →
4. Lowest can also describe a feeling, meaning the saddest or most hopeless. tree →

In the lessons

picks the smallest number among several, such as the lowest score, price or temperature; or the bottom position; in science: the lowest temperature in a table, the lowest point of land; in music: the lowest note; in everyday life: the lowest price in the shop

Examples

• Who got the lowest score: Ann, Ben or Cal? tree →
• The lowest temperature this week was 2 degrees. tree →
• Find the difference between the highest and lowest prices. tree →
• The books are on the lowest shelf. tree →
• The tuba plays the lowest notes in the band. tree →
• The Dead Sea is the lowest place on land. tree →
• Put heavy boxes on the lowest shelf. tree →
• Which bar on the graph is the lowest? tree →
• Conn the Hundred Fighter, Ard-Ri’ of Ireland, was in the lowest spirits that can be imagined, for his wife was dead. tree →

Note

Asks for the smallest value in a list (the minimum). With «highest» it often points to taking away to find the range. Trap: in lists of negative temperatures, the lowest is the one furthest below zero (−8 is lower than −3). Use «the» before lowest; compare two with «lower».

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah this means the bottom level, as in the lowest story of the ark or the lowest part of a place. In Psalms and Lamentations it means the deepest place, such as the lowest dungeon or the lowest nether-world, from which God rescues a person. In the primary lessons: picks the smallest number among several, such as the lowest score, price or temperature; or the bottom position; in science: the lowest temperature in a table, the lowest point of land; in music: the lowest note; in everyday life: the lowest price in the shop

Examples

• I called upon Thy name, O LORD, Out of the lowest dungeon. (Writings LAM.3.55, JPS 1917) tree →
• For great is Thy mercy toward me; and Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest nether-world. (Writings PSA.86.13, JPS 1917) tree →
• My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (Writings PSA.139.15, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Asks for the smallest value in a list (the minimum). With «highest» it often points to taking away to find the range. Trap: in lists of negative temperatures, the lowest is the one furthest below zero (−8 is lower than −3). Use «the» before lowest; compare two with «lower».