hill

/hɪl/

/hɪl/

Other forms: hills; hilling; hilled

A hill is a high ridge or mound of land, not as tall as a mountain. A house on a hill has a great view of the surrounding countryside, and very little chance of being flooded.

You can hike or drive up a hill — a gentle upward slope, in either case. An accidental or deliberate mound of stuff is another kind of hill, like a hill of snow in your yard, or a hill of trash at the dump. What's considered a hill in mountainous India — a height of up to 10,000 feet — is absolutely a mountain in Great Britain, where a hill is defined as an elevation of less than 2,000 feet.

Definitions of hill

1. noun

   a local and well-defined elevation of the land
   “they loved to roam the hills of West Virginia”

   examples:

   Areopagus

   a hill to the to the west of the Athenian acropolis where met the highest governmental council of ancient Athens and later a judicial court

   Golgotha

   a hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified

   Sion

   originally a stronghold captured by David (the 2nd king of the Israelites); above it was built a temple and later the name extended to the whole hill; finally it became a synonym for the city of Jerusalem

   Cotswold Hills

   a range of low hills in southwestern England

   Cheviot Hills

   a range of hills on the border between England and Scotland

   Pennine Chain

   a system of hills in Britain that extend from the Scottish border in the north to the Trent River in the south; forms the watershed for English rivers

   Seven Hills of Rome

   the hills on which the ancient city of Rome was built

   Palatine

   the most important of the Seven Hills of Rome; supposedly the location of the first settlement and the site of many imperial palaces

   Flodden

   a hill in Northumberland where the invading Scots were defeated by the English in 1513

   Nilgiri Hills

   hills in southern India

   Capitol Hill

   a hill in Washington, D.C., where the Capitol Building sits and Congress meets

   Breed's Hill

   a hill in Charlestown that was the site of the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775

   San Juan Hill

   a hill in eastern Cuba (near Santiago de Cuba) that was captured during the Spanish-American War

   types:

   butte

   a hill that rises abruptly from the surrounding region; has a flat top and sloping sides

   foothill

   a relatively low hill on the lower slope of a mountain

   hammock, hillock, hummock, knoll, mound

   a small natural hill

   tor

   a high rocky hill

   anthill, formicary

   a mound of earth made by ants as they dig their nest

   kopje, koppie

   a small hill rising up from the African veld

   molehill

   a mound of earth made by moles while burrowing

   type of:

   elevation, eminence, natural elevation

   a raised or elevated geological formation
2. noun

   structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones
   synonyms: mound

   types:

   barbette

   (formerly) a mound of earth inside a fort from which heavy gun can be fired over the parapet

   barrow, burial mound, grave mound, tumulus

   (archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs

   embankment

   a long artificial mound of stone or earth; built to hold back water or to support a road or as protection

   snow bank, snowbank

   a mound or heap of snow

   levee

   an embankment that is built in order to prevent a river from overflowing

   bulwark, rampart, wall

   an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes

   type of:

   construction, structure

   a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts
3. noun

   (baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands
   synonyms: mound, pitcher's mound

   type of:

   baseball equipment

   equipment used in playing baseball
4. verb

   form into a hill
   type of:

   forge, form, mold, mould, shape, work

   make something, usually for a specific function