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• hill
  hill

  noun

  a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.
• Hill
  Hill

  noun

  Ambrose Powell 1825–65, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.

hill

¹ American  

[hil] / hɪl /

noun

• hills
  plural

1. a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.

   Synonyms:

   foothill, hillock, knoll, mound, prominence, eminence

   Antonyms:

   valley, hollow

2. an incline, especially in a road.

   This old jalopy won't make it up the next hill.

3. an artificial heap, pile, or mound.

   a hill made by ants.

4. a small mound of earth raised about a cultivated plant or a cluster of such plants.

5. the plant or plants so surrounded.

   a hill of potatoes.

6. Baseball. mound.

7. the Hill. Capitol Hill.

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verb (used with object)

• hills,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hilled,
  past participle,  past
• hilling
  present participle

1. to surround with hills.

   to hill potatoes.

2. to form into a hill or heap.

idioms

1. go over the hill,

   1. to break out of prison.

   2. to absent oneself without leave from one's military unit.

   3. to leave suddenly or mysteriously.

      Rumor has it that her husband has gone over the hill.

2. over the hill,

   1. relatively advanced in age.

   2. past one's prime.

Hill ² American  

[hil] / hɪl /

noun

1. Ambrose Powell 1825–65, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.

2. Archibald Vivian 1886–1977, English physiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1922.

3. James Jerome, 1838–1916, U.S. railroad builder and financier, born in Canada.

4. Joe, 1879–1915, U.S. labor organizer and songwriter, born in Sweden.

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hill ¹ British  

/ hɪl /

noun

1. 1. a conspicuous and often rounded natural elevation of the earth's surface, less high or craggy than a mountain

   2. ( in combination )

      a hillside

      a hilltop

2. 1. a heap or mound made by a person or animal

   2. ( in combination )

      a dunghill

3. an incline; slope

4. 1. informal beyond one's prime

   2. slang military absent without leave or deserting

5. strenuously and persistently

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verb

1. to form into a hill or mound

2. to cover or surround with a mound or heap of earth

Hill ² British  

/ hɪl /

noun

1. Archibald Vivian. 1886–1977, British biochemist, noted for his research into heat loss in muscle contraction: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine (1922)

2. Damon Graham Devereux, son of Graham Hill. born 1960, British motor-racing driver; Formula One world champion (1996)

3. David Octavius 1802–70, Scottish painter and portrait photographer, noted esp for his collaboration with the chemist Robert Adamson (1821–48)

4. Sir Geoffrey ( William ). born 1932, British poet: his books include King Log (1968), Mercian Hymns (1971), The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy (1983), and The Orchards of Syon (2002)

5. Graham. 1929–75, British motor-racing driver: world champion (1962, 1968)

6. Octavia. 1838–1912, British housing reformer; a founder of the National Trust

7. Sir Rowland. 1795–1879, British originator of the penny postage

8. Susan ( Elizabeth ). born 1942, British novelist and writer of short stories: her books include I'm the King of the Castle (1970) The Woman in Black (1983), and Felix Derby (2002)

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hill More Idioms  

1. see downhill all the way; go downhill; head for (the hills); make a mountain out of a molehill; not worth a dime (hill of beans); old as Adam (the hills); over the hill.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hiller
  noun
• underhill
  noun
• hilly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hills
  plural

Participles

• hilling
  present
• hilled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hill
  simple
• hills
  simple
• have hilled
  perfect
• has hilled
  perfect
• am hilling
  progressive
• are hilling
  progressive
• is hilling
  progressive
• have been hilling
  perfect progressive
• has been hilling
  perfect progressive

Past

• hilled
  simple
• had hilled
  perfect
• was hilling
  progressive
• were hilling
  progressive
• had been hilling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hill
  simple
• will have hilled
  perfect
• will be hilling
  progressive
• will have been hilling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of hill

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hyll; cognate with Middle Dutch hille, Latin collis hill; compare Latin culmen top, peak ( see column, culminate), celsus lofty, very high, Gothic hallus rock, Lithuanian kálnas mountain, Greek kolōnós hill, kolophṓn summit ( see colophon)

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Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hill Hill hills hilled hilling

Growing up, he said, American research universities “were really like beacons on a hill for me.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

If the language of the text message is ambiguous, lacks intent, or could be referring to any number of transactions, you would have a steep hill to climb.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

"I've been on this hill from I was 10 years of age, it means something to me. It means a lot to my constituents here in Upper Bann," she said.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Living on a hill also makes a difference.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

We are on a hill, and from this fire escape I can see all the way to the spires of the National Cathedral.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Along with young families and retirees, creatives have been among the Hill Country’s newest residents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Here’s how to make the most out of the sprawling Hill Country, which even as it is changing still feels like a hidden gem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Kirsty Hill, 33, from Maesteg, Bridgend county, was born with Fraser Syndrome, external which can affect the development of body tissue and organs.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

The host was once positioned as an irreverent comedian whose political satire was guided by his no-BS take on Capitol Hill and American culture.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

Across the road I could see a group of farms up on a rocky ridge midway up Redhead Hill.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

The surrounding hills are ideal places for long, solo walks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

Many visit the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which contains Irving’s grave, Mr. Ocker notes, as well as the remains of Carnegies, Rockefellers and Astors, among “lush hills studded with old stones, mausoleums, and statues.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026

It will also be rather misty and murky over some coasts and hills.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

The event promises glamour -- replete with champagne-quaffing celebrities -- set against the backdrop of Rwanda's verdant hills and rich wildlife, all broadcast to a global audience.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Glory and Danny borrowed bicycles from the hotel and rode them up and down the hills.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Yas, sah, jes' about the same way, only it has to be hilled higher an' hoed more'n corn.

From The Boy With the U.S. Census by Francis Rolt-Wheeler

They are set at the distance of three or four feet apart, and are hilled, and kept continually free from weeds.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

Dusty and weary, but in excellent spirits over the large space that he and the hired man had "hilled up," he went whistling home through the long shadows of the June evening.

From Without a Home by Edward Payson Roe

Master of the games of the fair hilled Taillten, King of Tara of a hundred conflicts; Chief of Fodla the noble, Aed of Oileac who died too soon.

From Ireland, Historic and Picturesque by Charles Johnston

This frame is placed with the small end down at the point where the seeds are to be planted, and the earth is hilled up about it and firmly packed with the feet.

From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by L. H. (Liberty Hyde) Bailey

Prevailing industry practices often involve the concentrated application of fertilizers during the planting or hilling phases, particularly in Atlantic Canada.

From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2023

At the usual first hilling time, Dowding pulls a little nearby compost around each plant in a minimound, later adding more from the heap as the plants need hilling again.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 29, 2023

He mentions that the Potawatomi word for “hill” is a verb: “Hills are always in the process of hilling, they are actively being hills.”

From New York Times ● May 27, 2020

On an afternoon in March, Loïc Gouzer, a specialist in contemporary art at Christie’s New York, attended a hilling session to survey several works that had been secured for an upcoming auction.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 27, 2016

Where, there by the berries, With cheeks like cherries, And locks with which the warm wind merries, Brown girls are hilling the hay, All day!

From Undertones by Madison J. Cawein

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Related Words

• bluff
• cliff
• dune
• highland
• hillside
• hilltop
• ridge
• slope

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