hill
noun
a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.
hill
1 American
[hil]
/ hɪl /
noun
-
hills
plural
-
a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.
-
an incline, especially in a road.
This old jalopy won't make it up the next hill.
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an artificial heap, pile, or mound.
a hill made by ants.
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a small mound of earth raised about a cultivated plant or a cluster of such plants.
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the plant or plants so surrounded.
a hill of potatoes.
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Baseball. mound.
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the Hill. Capitol Hill.
verb (used with object)
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hills,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hilled,
past participle, past
-
hilling
present participle
-
to surround with hills.
to hill potatoes.
-
to form into a hill or heap.
idioms
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go over the hill,
-
to break out of prison.
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to absent oneself without leave from one's military unit.
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to leave suddenly or mysteriously.
Rumor has it that her husband has gone over the hill.
-
-
over the hill,
-
relatively advanced in age.
-
past one's prime.
-
Hill
2
American
[hil]
/ hɪl /
noun
-
Ambrose Powell 1825–65, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
-
Archibald Vivian 1886–1977, English physiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1922.
-
James Jerome, 1838–1916, U.S. railroad builder and financier, born in Canada.
-
Joe, 1879–1915, U.S. labor organizer and songwriter, born in Sweden.
hill
1
British
/ hɪl /
noun
-
-
a conspicuous and often rounded natural elevation of the earth's surface, less high or craggy than a mountain
-
( in combination )
a hillside
a hilltop
-
-
-
a heap or mound made by a person or animal
-
( in combination )
a dunghill
-
-
an incline; slope
-
-
informal beyond one's prime
-
slang military absent without leave or deserting
-
-
strenuously and persistently
verb
-
to form into a hill or mound
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to cover or surround with a mound or heap of earth
Hill
2
British
/ hɪl /
noun
-
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)
-
Damon Graham Devereux, son of Graham Hill. born 1960, British motor-racing driver; Formula One world champion (1996)
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David Octavius 1802–70, Scottish painter and portrait photographer, noted esp for his collaboration with the chemist Robert Adamson (1821–48)
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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)
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Graham. 1929–75, British motor-racing driver: world champion (1962, 1968)
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Octavia. 1838–1912, British housing reformer; a founder of the National Trust
-
Sir Rowland. 1795–1879, British originator of the penny postage
-
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)
hill
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hillsimple
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hillssimple
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have hilledperfect
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has hilledperfect
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am hillingprogressive
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are hillingprogressive
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is hillingprogressive
-
have been hillingperfect progressive
-
has been hillingperfect progressive
Past
-
hilledsimple
-
had hilledperfect
-
was hillingprogressive
-
were hillingprogressive
-
had been hillingperfect progressive
Future
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)
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The course keeps runners along the water for most of the race, but near the end, leads them up a steep hill, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026
A black-and-white image snapped just after 6 a.m. shows the animal heading up the hill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
“Our current view is that Anthropic has a significant hill to climb,” Peterson added in a client note, pointing to the company’s need to find stickier revenue channels like cybersecurity, among goals.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
If a hill has moguls, you won’t find me within a country mile of it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
He trotted to the foot of the hill and stared at the right trail.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
“This quarter marks a full year of consistent delivery,” Chief Executive Mark Hill said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026
Hill said that for a fourth consecutive quarter Barrick improved safety, advanced growth projects, returned significant capital to shareholders and strengthen Nevada Gold Mines, the gold asset that anchors its operations in North America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026
That sort of access and exposure served B-Real well, with Cypress Hill finding mainstream success with its self-titled LP in 1991.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Her parents died on the part of Bédar known as English Hill, one of the places where, families say, the authorities' only contact came minutes before the flames arrived.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Four years later, Satchmo moved from his old neighborhood to Marlow Hill, after his mother had taken a job as an office assistant at a veterinary clinic.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
The following April, with the Allied invasion approaching, they decided to take to the maquis, in other words live clandestinely in the forested hills, supplied with food by local farmers.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026
But some analysts suggest the figure could be much higher, given difficulties counting people scattered throughout the nation's dense forests and rugged hills.
From Barron's ● Nov. 9, 2026
It was a landscape of rolling hills, sheep and sheepherders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
In the hills of north-west Morocco, overlooking the river that gives the site its name, research at Oued Beht is bringing to light a previously unknown chapter of the region’s past.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
Up until then, he would have confidently said that hills do not speak.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Holes were then to be dug at least 8 feet apart, one foot square, and one foot deep, and in each two or three roots planted and well hilled up.
From A Short History of English Agriculture by W. H. R. (William Henry Ricketts) Curtler
Beans should not be much hilled in hoeing, and should never be worked when wet.
From Soil Culture by J. H. Walden
The cabbage group is sometimes hilled up, but if set well down and frequently cultivated, on most soils this will not be necessary.
From Home Vegetable Gardening — a Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting and Care of All Vegetables, Fruits and Berries Worth Growing for Home Use by F. F. (Frederick Frye) Rockwell
There was little work for Paul to do in the village; but he kept their own garden in good trim,—the onion-bed clear of weeds, and the potatoes well hilled.
From Winning His Way by Charles Carleton Coffin
The corn, as soon as shot out of the earth, is weeded: when it mounts up, and its stalks are an inch big, it is hilled, to secure it against the wind.
From History of Louisisana Or of the Western Parts of Virginia and Carolina: Containing by Le Page du Pratz
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
And we all heard him say in reply— "The potatoes need hilling, and then you'll feel like having a dip in the pool."
From The Master of the Inn by Robert Herrick
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
