high ground

plural high grounds · alternative highground

1. idiomaticuncountableusuallywith definite articleA 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. countableuncountableUsed 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

   1 more example

   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 28, M. F. Barbey, “Some Branch Lines in East Lincolnshire”, in Railway Magazine, page 316