hill
noun
a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.
hill
1 American
[hil]
/ hɪl /
noun
-
hills
plural
-
a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.
-
an incline, especially in a road.
This old jalopy won't make it up the next hill.
-
an artificial heap, pile, or mound.
a hill made by ants.
-
a small mound of earth raised about a cultivated plant or a cluster of such plants.
-
the plant or plants so surrounded.
a hill of potatoes.
-
Baseball. mound.
-
the Hill. Capitol Hill.
verb (used with object)
-
hills,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hilled,
past participle, past
-
hilling
present participle
-
to surround with hills.
to hill potatoes.
-
to form into a hill or heap.
idioms
-
go over the hill,
-
to break out of prison.
-
to absent oneself without leave from one's military unit.
-
to leave suddenly or mysteriously.
Rumor has it that her husband has gone over the hill.
-
-
over the hill,
-
relatively advanced in age.
-
past one's prime.
-
Hill
2
American
[hil]
/ hɪl /
noun
-
Ambrose Powell 1825–65, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
-
Archibald Vivian 1886–1977, English physiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1922.
-
James Jerome, 1838–1916, U.S. railroad builder and financier, born in Canada.
-
Joe, 1879–1915, U.S. labor organizer and songwriter, born in Sweden.
hill
1
British
/ hɪl /
noun
-
-
a conspicuous and often rounded natural elevation of the earth's surface, less high or craggy than a mountain
-
( in combination )
a hillside
a hilltop
-
-
-
a heap or mound made by a person or animal
-
( in combination )
a dunghill
-
-
an incline; slope
-
-
informal beyond one's prime
-
slang military absent without leave or deserting
-
-
strenuously and persistently
verb
-
to form into a hill or mound
-
to cover or surround with a mound or heap of earth
Hill
2
British
/ hɪl /
noun
-
Archibald Vivian. 1886–1977, British biochemist, noted for his research into heat loss in muscle contraction: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine (1922)
-
Damon Graham Devereux, son of Graham Hill. born 1960, British motor-racing driver; Formula One world champion (1996)
-
David Octavius 1802–70, Scottish painter and portrait photographer, noted esp for his collaboration with the chemist Robert Adamson (1821–48)
-
Sir Geoffrey ( William ). born 1932, British poet: his books include King Log (1968), Mercian Hymns (1971), The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy (1983), and The Orchards of Syon (2002)
-
Graham. 1929–75, British motor-racing driver: world champion (1962, 1968)
-
Octavia. 1838–1912, British housing reformer; a founder of the National Trust
-
Sir Rowland. 1795–1879, British originator of the penny postage
-
Susan ( Elizabeth ). born 1942, British novelist and writer of short stories: her books include I'm the King of the Castle (1970) The Woman in Black (1983), and Felix Derby (2002)
hill
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hillsimple
-
hillssimple
-
have hilledperfect
-
has hilledperfect
-
am hillingprogressive
-
are hillingprogressive
-
is hillingprogressive
-
have been hillingperfect progressive
-
has been hillingperfect progressive
Past
-
hilledsimple
-
had hilledperfect
-
was hillingprogressive
-
were hillingprogressive
-
had been hillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hill
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hyll; cognate with Middle Dutch hille, Latin collis hill; compare Latin culmen top, peak ( see column, culminate), celsus lofty, very high, Gothic hallus rock, Lithuanian kálnas mountain, Greek kolōnós hill, kolophṓn summit ( see colophon)
Explanation
A hill is a high ridge or mound of land, not as tall as a mountain. A house on a hill has a great view of the surrounding countryside, and very little chance of being flooded. You can hike or drive up a hill — a gentle upward slope, in either case. An accidental or deliberate mound of stuff is another kind of hill, like a hill of snow in your yard, or a hill of trash at the dump. What's considered a hill in mountainous India — a height of up to 10,000 feet — is absolutely a mountain in Great Britain, where a hill is defined as an elevation of less than 2,000 feet.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Before embarking on his mountaineering career, Purja served in Britain’s famed Gurkha army unit, which is overwhelmingly recruited from people of Nepal’s hill communities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
"A wall of orange flames came roaring up over the hill," Barnes said.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
He was at Mayer am Nussberg, a Keller-run heuriger perched on a hill overlooking the capital, as part of a team-bonding trip with his social media firm.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
It’s a feat of engineering, situated on a hill between the park’s upper and lower lots, extending out toward Lankershim Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
You climb a steep hill, too steep for the dogs, so you get off the sled and push.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
So when Erle enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he was already holding 91 of the 120 credit hours he needed for his degree.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Wearing a black top, Tweed, of Buckhurst Hill, Essex, said he now works as an electrician, adding that his income varies and is "maybe £3,000 a month".
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Misinterpreting his ghostly prophecy—“Macbeth shall never vanquished be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him”—the usurping Scottish king believed his reign was secure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Wiping her eyes with a tissue, Maxine Hill told Mr Justice Hilliard the bank refused to refund the money fraudulently taken by Bush, whom she knew personally.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Seven looked at Valley before finishing her thought: one of the terrible families on the Hill.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
For Dr Agata Chrzanowksa, an art historian and tour guide in Florence, the hills and mountains north of the city are "a very good spot to runaway from the heat" for those driving.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Trapping Sophie in a crone’s body and making her realize how much harder it is to cross rolling hills and climb stairs gives her a new appreciation for everything she’s been taking for granted.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Authorities said they hadn’t yet pinpointed a cause for the Dove fire, which burned in the hills southwest of Sonora — a town outside of Yosemite National Park in southern Tuolumne County.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Another grower near Mid-Illovo, a region of rolling hills south of Durban, said most cane cutters in his area came from Lesotho, the tiny kingdom encircled by South Africa.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
A strong breeze moved through the woods, and a tremble rebounded across the hills.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
This frame is placed with the small end down at the point where the seeds are to be planted, and the earth is hilled up about it and firmly packed with the feet.
From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)
Then were they ware in the wind where came a rich vessel hilled over with red silk, and the vessel landed fast by them.
From Le Mort d'Arthur: Volume 2 by Malory, Thomas, Sir
Master of the games of the fair hilled Taillten, King of Tara of a hundred conflicts; Chief of Fodla the noble, Aed of Oileac who died too soon.
From Ireland, Historic and Picturesque by Johnston, Charles
Beans should not be much hilled in hoeing, and should never be worked when wet.
From Soil Culture by Walden, J. H.
When the plants were about knee high they were "hilled up," as the Indian had done his corn, or the Englishman his cabbage, and considered "laid by."
From Tobacco in Colonial Virginia "The Sovereign Remedy" by Herndon, G. Melvin
That hilling up promotes leeks with longer white shanks.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
Prevailing industry practices often involve the concentrated application of fertilizers during the planting or hilling phases, particularly in Atlantic Canada.
From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2023
He mentions that the Potawatomi word for “hill” is a verb: “Hills are always in the process of hilling, they are actively being hills.”
From New York Times ● May 27, 2020
On an afternoon in March, Loïc Gouzer, a specialist in contemporary art at Christie’s New York, attended a hilling session to survey several works that had been secured for an upcoming auction.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 27, 2016
Suppose you have an eye on the hilling up of the potatoes, Ted.
From Ted and the Telephone by Stecher, William F. (William Frederick)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
