Definition of "high altar" [high altar]

• The main altar in a church. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Not at the parish altar of Holy Cross, but at the high altar of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Nigel Aspley and Roswitha Linde were made man and wife."
• "As, according to the requirements of the Caeremoniale Episcoporum, the altars of a church and especially the high altar should be covered by a baldacchino, and the bishop's throne etc. should be honoured with the same mark of respect, so canopies are used in processions and solemn receptions not only for the Blessed sacrament but also under certain circumstances for bishops, legates, and princes of the blood royal."
• "The single carved high altar in the Church of San Borja was valued at the price of 30,000 steers."