mound

¹ American  

[maund] / maʊnd /

noun

1. a natural elevation of earth; a hillock or knoll.

2. an artificial elevation of earth, as for a defense work or a dam or barrier; an embankment.

3. a heap or raised mass.

   a mound of papers;

   a mound of hay.

4. Baseball. the slightly raised ground from which the pitcher delivers the ball.

5. an elevation formed of earth, sand, stones, etc., especially over a grave or ruins.

6. a tumulus or other raised work of earth dating from a prehistoric or long-past period.

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verb (used with object)

• mounds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• mounded,
  past participle,  past
• mounding
  present participle

1. to form into a mound; heap up.

2. to furnish with a mound of earth, as for a defense.

mound ² American  

[maund] / maʊnd /

noun

1. a globe topped with a cross that symbolizes power and constitutes part of the regalia of an English sovereign.

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mound ¹ British  

/ maʊnd /

noun

1. a raised mass of earth, debris, etc

2. any heap or pile

   a mound of washing

3. a small natural hill

4. archaeol another word for barrow 2

5. an artificial ridge of earth, stone, etc, as used for defence

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verb

1. (often foll by up) to gather into a mound; heap

2. (tr) to cover or surround with a mound

   to mound a grave

mound ² British  

/ maʊnd /

noun

1. heraldry a rare word for orb

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unmounded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• mounding
  present
• mounded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mound
  simple
• mounds
  simple
• have mounded
  perfect
• has mounded
  perfect
• am mounding
  progressive
• are mounding
  progressive
• is mounding
  progressive
• have been mounding
  perfect progressive
• has been mounding
  perfect progressive

Past

• mounded
  simple
• had mounded
  perfect
• was mounding
  progressive
• were mounding
  progressive
• had been mounding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mound
  simple
• will have mounded
  perfect
• will be mounding
  progressive
• will have been mounding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of mound¹

First recorded in 1505–15; of obscure origin; noun “hedge or fence used as a boundary or protection,” verb “to enclose with a fence”; compare Old English mund “hand,” hence “protection, protector”; cognate with Old Norse mund “hand,” Middle Dutch mond “protection”

Origin of mound²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English mounde, mundie, from Old French monde, munde, from Latin mundus “world”

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Explanation

A mound is a heap or a pile of material or objects. You can make a mound of clothes by dumping your laundry onto your bed. The noun mound is occasionally used to mean "a hill," but it most often describes a manmade pile, like a mound of stones or a mound of sand heaped on the beach, or a mound of snow that you sculpt into a rabbit. On a baseball diamond, the pitcher's mound is the little rise on which the pitcher stands to throw the ball. As a verb, mound means to pile something into a heaped shape.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mound mounds mounded mounding

Ohtani never did return to the mound, and his offense suffered as injuries mounted down the stretch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026

Ohtani’s return to the mound, however, raises the most questions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2026

Earlier research at the site identified the remains of 18 horses that had been deliberately positioned on the burial mound.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 8, 2026

The reality of illegally dumped waste sits before me in a colossal mound next to the side of a motorway.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

And she heads to the mound without another word.

From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone

Ragged strips of aluminium hung from torn-open structures, while stray dogs roamed through blackened pipes and mounds of rubble.

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2026

Large areas were planted with maize, while enormous quantities of earth were moved to construct mounds topped by temples and residences for leaders.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

India’s dysfunctional urbanization provides an endless stream of videos: mounds of rotting garbage, trains overflowing with commuters, half-drowned school buses on flooded roads.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

And it is true that what last month was just bushland and rough grazing ground near the village is now scarred by pits, mounds of earth and makeshift mining camps.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Mist floated in the hollows between the mounds, where the pale, ghostly skeletons of hemlock reared above his head, and the purple stalks of dying willowherb released their eerily drifting down.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

In addition to identifying forts similar to the walled fortresses Poidebard found, the team identified forts with interior architecture features and ones built around a mounded citadel.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2023

In the distance, a Boswell crew with earth-movers was building a levee, a rising barrier of mounded dirt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2023

Goguryeo’s elites also learned from the Chinese the art of adorning their large, mounded tombs with colorful murals depicting the lives of royals surrounded by dancers, servants, and enslaved people.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

As it turned out, the remains were at the very bottom, partially underground, below earth that had been mounded around the old foundation.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 13, 2022

Having mounded them up, I shuffled through them, discarding some upon the floor.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Taste and season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a platter, mounding it to one side.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 14, 2023

But radar satellites that measure ocean height can also find them, by looking for subtle signs of seawater mounding above a hidden seamount, tugged by its gravity.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 18, 2023

Both heathers have a mounding habit and grow 2-by-2 feet.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2022

Pigeon Point has bright green foliage, a nice mounding growth and creamy flowers that bloom summer through winter.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2022

They gathered the silver to them, mounding it around, piling it high.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

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