mound

¹

[mound]

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.

verb (used with object)

1. to form into a mound; heap up.

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

mound

²

[mound]

noun

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

mound

¹

/ 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

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

/ maʊnd /

noun

1. heraldry a rare word for orb

Other Word Forms

• unmounded adjective

Word History and Origins

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of mound¹

C16: earthwork, perhaps from Old English mund hand, hence defence: compare Middle Dutch mond protection

Origin of mound²

C13 (meaning: world, C16: orb): from French monde, from Latin mundus world

Example Sentences

Once on the mound, Sasaki delivered a performance that was aesthetically pleasing as it was effective.

From Los Angeles Times

In 1960, during her first year at Gombe, Goodall observed a chimpanzee she called David Greybeard carefully strip a twig of leaves and use it to root out tasty termites from a mound.

From Salon

He was sitting beside a mound of red earth, carefully pushing a blade of grass into a hole, then withdrawing it and poking it into his mouth.

From Los Angeles Times

That year, she became the first person to record witnessing an animal using a tool - a large male chimpanzee, who she had named David Greybeard, digging termites out of a mound with a stick.

From BBC

Firefighters and emergency responders searched into the afternoon for anyone who may have been trapped under the mounds of rubble outside the building, which is part of a public housing development in the Bronx.

From BBC