molehill

[mohl-hil]

See more synonyms for molehill on Thesaurus.com

noun

a small mound or ridge of earth raised up by a mole or moles burrowing under the ground.

Idioms

make a mountain out of a molehill, to exaggerate a minor difficulty.

Origin of molehill

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at mole¹, hill

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for molehill

mountain, rise, hillock, shock, drift, dune, pile, bank, embankment, knoll, mass, stack, molehill, anthill, tumulus, paltriness, triviality, pettiness, nothingness, inconsequence

Examples from the Web for molehill

Contemporary Examples of molehill

In both cases, the minority party on both committees thinks the majority is making a mountain out of a molehill.
From Waterboarding to Benghazi, CIA Faces Two-Front War by Congress
Eli Lake
April 4, 2014
But is this merely a case of making a mountain out of a molehill—or is there a legitimate reason to be upset?
The Uproar Over No Doubt’s Native American Video Gaffe
Tricia Romano
November 6, 2012
Few diplomatic events are more embarrassing than a summit that turns into a molehill.
The War Over the Global Stimulus
Stryker McGuire
March 13, 2009

Historical Examples of molehill

That is often a mountain to one which is only a molehill to another.
Out in the Forty-Five
Emily Sarah Holt
I was a little nettled at having been scared for a molehill.
The Celebrity, Complete
Winston Churchill
The newspapers got hold of it and are making a mountain out of a molehill.
Baseball Joe on the Giants
Lester Chadwick
He saw now, or thought he saw, that he had been making a mountain out of a molehill.
Beatrice
H. Rider Haggard
I soon found my pride was a molehill and my love a mountain.
Hard Cash
Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for molehill

molehill

noun

the small mound of earth thrown up by a burrowing mole
make a mountain out of a molehill to exaggerate an unimportant matter out of all proportion

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 molehill

also mole-hill, mid-15c., from mole (2) + hill (n.).

To much amplifying thinges yt. be but small, makyng mountaines of Molehils. [John Foxe, "Acts and Monuments," 1570]

Idioms and Phrases with molehill

molehill

see make a mountain out of a molehill.