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.
-
an artificial heap, pile, or mound.
a hill made by ants.
-
a small mound of earth raised about a cultivated plant or a cluster of such plants.
-
the plant or plants so surrounded.
a hill of potatoes.
-
Baseball. mound.
-
the Hill. Capitol Hill.
verb (used with object)
-
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
-
go over the hill,
-
to break out of prison.
-
to absent oneself without leave from one's military unit.
-
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
-
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)
-
David Octavius 1802–70, Scottish painter and portrait photographer, noted esp for his collaboration with the chemist Robert Adamson (1821–48)
-
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)
-
Graham. 1929–75, British motor-racing driver: world champion (1962, 1968)
-
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
-
hillsimple
-
hillssimple
-
have hilledperfect
-
has hilledperfect
-
am hillingprogressive
-
are hillingprogressive
-
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:
Imagine a stopped cable car sitting at the top of a steep hill in San Francisco.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
Workers swarmed the mound of metal like ants on a hill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
"We have also received reports that there are stranded people higher on the hill," Uprety added.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Tono says these communities' traditional practices, known as uma bukit or "hill farming", are rooted in the idea of maintaining balance with nature.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
The right way was over the hill, then on for many Lights and Darks.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Games journalist and self-proclaimed "Silent Hillian" Vikki Blake told me the latest game exceeded her expectations, though she's still not convinced these newer games truly fit under the Silent Hill name.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
So the museum commissioned Oscar-winning makeup artist and sculptor Mike Hill, fresh off his work on Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” to research and create a full-body Mrs. Bates instead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Hill has tried to make Nike a more athlete-focused company, after a drop in demand for streetwear and casual sneakers like Dunks and Air Force 1s.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
She joined the Journal as part of the news associate program, a two-year fellowship that included rotations on Capitol Hill, markets and economics coverage and video production.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Seven looked at Valley before finishing her thought: one of the terrible families on the Hill.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
The Cotswolds region, with its rolling hills, picturesque villages and posh schools, has reportedly attracted Harry and Meghan and a flurry of American buyers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
The Cotswolds, a famed stretch of English countryside known for its rolling hills, picturesque villages and posh private schools, is drawing more American buyers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The changeable conditions that have dominated the past week will continue into the weekend, with blustery winds coming in off the Atlantic and gales for some western coasts and hills.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
From that restaurant Cardoso could look out the window and see sloping hills and Lucas’ Wagyu cows raised there on the farm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
I knew that somewhere in the hills a big tree had split wide open.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The potatoes were growing finely and he hilled them up for the first time.
From Hiram the Young Farmer by Burbank L. Todd
Phoenix like symbol of the departed soul, he soars into the sky, and the seven hilled city throbs with pride, reverberating the shouts of her people.
From The Destiny of the Soul A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life by William Rounseville Alger
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
These were immediately taken on board, and consisted of two sheep, an elk ready hilled, and a few fowls, with some vegetables and fruit.
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
That hilling up promotes leeks with longer white shanks.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
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
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
Suppose you have an eye on the hilling up of the potatoes, Ted.
From Ted and the Telephone by William F. (William Frederick) Stecher
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
