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foothill

[foo t-hil]
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noun
  1. a low hill at the base of a mountain or mountain range.
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Origin of foothill

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; foot + hill
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for foothill

Historical Examples

  • And behind her, like a foothill in the shadow of a mountain, was Laban.

    The Portygee

    Joseph Crosby Lincoln

  • The lower third of the mountains, that is, the foothill section, is only tree-dotted.

  • It was not many days after my arrival in the Foothill country that I began to hear of Gwen.

    The Sky Pilot

    Ralph Connor

  • The foothill Indians were not a particularly intelligent lot.

    Down the Mother Lode

    Vivia Hemphill

  • Neither had he an interest in the foothill country to the west.

    The Rules of the Game

    Stewart Edward White

British Dictionary definitions for foothill

foothill

noun
  1. (often plural) a lower slope of a mountain or a relatively low hill at the foot of a mountain
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for foothill

n.

"a hill that leads up to a mountain," 1850, American English, from foot (n.) + hill.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper