North Downs

American  

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. a range of chalk hills in southeastern England, south of the Thames, extending west to east about 100 miles (160 kilometers): Highest peak, Leith Hill, 965 feet (294 meters).

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Etymology

Origin of North Downs

First recorded in 1815–20

Example Sentences

The strategy depended on a chain of 13 fortified centres acting as strong points on the North Downs, between Farningham in Kent and Guildford in Surrey, and from Epping to Basildon in Essex.

From The Guardian • Aug. 5, 2017

"Scorrier is in the area of the old Great North Downs Mines, a major part of the tin mining industry in Cornwall, so it's not surprising to find collapses here."

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2016

As you drive south from London on the M23, the landscape quickly opens onto the rolling, green hills of the North Downs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 1, 2015

The North Downs Tunnel in Kent for HS1 was a mile or so long.

From BBC • Jan. 29, 2013

Fifty minutes while the plane droned over Cornwall and Devon, then Somerset and the Salisbury Plains before reaching the North Downs and on toward Windsor and London.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz