high ground

Noun

high ground (countable and uncountable, plural high grounds)

1. (idiomatic, uncountable, usually, with-definite-article) A position of advantage or superiority in a conflict or competition.
   • President George W. Bush had once again outmaneuvered them by taking the national-security high ground in an election year.2006 September 27, Mike Allen, “Why the Fight Over Intelligence May Be a Wash”, in Time, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2008
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see high, ground.
   • The trail passes along on high ground—say a thousand feet above sea level.1872, Mark Twain, chapter 69, in Roughing It
   • It follows a rather tortuous course to avoid the high ground and, from the first, was obviously more suited to be part of a main line than a purely local undertaking.1958 May, M. F. Barbey, “Some Branch Lines in East Lincolnshire”, in Railway Magazine, page 316