Library / English Dictionary

HILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones

Example:

they built small mounds to hide behind

Synonyms:

hill; mound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("hill" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hill"):

barbette ((formerly) a mound of earth inside a fort from which heavy gun can be fired over the parapet)

barrow; burial mound; grave mound; tumulus ((archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs)

embankment (a long artificial mound of stone or earth; built to hold back water or to support a road or as protection)

snow bank; snowbank (a mound or heap of snow)

Derivation:

hill (form into a hill)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands

Synonyms:

hill; mound; pitcher's mound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("hill" is a kind of...):

baseball equipment (equipment used in playing baseball)

Domain category:

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Holonyms ("hill" is a part of...):

baseball diamond; diamond; infield (the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate)

Derivation:

hill (form into a hill)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A local and well-defined elevation of the land

Example:

they loved to roam the hills of West Virginia

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("hill" is a kind of...):

elevation; natural elevation (a raised or elevated geological formation)

Meronyms (parts of "hill"):

hillside (the side or slope of a hill)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hill"):

tor (a high rocky hill)

hammock; hillock; hummock; knoll; mound (a small natural hill)

foothill (a relatively low hill on the lower slope of a mountain)

butte (a hill that rises abruptly from the surrounding region; has a flat top and sloping sides)

Instance hyponyms:

Cheviot Hills; Cheviots (a range of hills on the border between England and Scotland)

Pennine Chain; Pennines (a system of hills in Britain that extend from the Scottish border in the north to the Trent River in the south; forms the watershed for English rivers)

Seven Hills of Rome (the hills on which the ancient city of Rome was built)

Palatine (the most important of the Seven Hills of Rome; supposedly the location of the first settlement and the site of many imperial palaces)

Flodden (a hill in Northumberland where the invading Scots were defeated by the English in 1513)

Nilgiri Hills (hills in southern India)

Capitol Hill; the Hill (a hill in Washington, D.C., where the Capitol Building sits and Congress meets)

Breed's Hill (a hill in Charlestown that was the site of the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775)

Cotswold Hills; Cotswolds (a range of low hills in southwestern England)

Sion; Zion (originally a stronghold captured by David (the 2nd king of the Israelites); above it was built a temple and later the name extended to the whole hill; finally it became a synonym for the city of Jerusalem)

Calvary; Golgotha (a hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified)

San Juan Hill (a hill in eastern Cuba (near Santiago de Cuba) that was captured during the Spanish-American War)

Areopagus (a hill to the to the west of the Athenian acropolis where met the highest governmental council of ancient Athens and later a judicial court)

Derivation:

hill (form into a hill)

hilly (having hills and crags)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Risque English comedian (1925-1992)

Synonyms:

Alfred Hawthorne; Benny Hill; Hill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

comedian; comic (a professional performer who tells jokes and performs comical acts)

Sense 5

Meaning:

United States railroad tycoon (1838-1916)

Synonyms:

Hill; J. J. Hill; James Jerome Hill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

businessman; man of affairs (a person engaged in commercial or industrial business (especially an owner or executive))

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form into a hill

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "hill" is one way to...):

forge; form; mold; mould; shape; work (make something, usually for a specific function)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

hill (structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones)

hill ((baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands)

hill (a local and well-defined elevation of the land)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I again nestled to the breast of the hill; and ere long in sleep forgot sorrow.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When I joined Mr. Peggotty, he was walking slowly and thoughtfully down the hill.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

In the near distance, in contrast with the young-green of the tended grass, sunburnt hay-fields showed tan and gold; while beyond were the tawny hills and upland pastures.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

And in the morning he awoke and the hill was gone; so he went merrily to the king, and told him that now that it was removed he must give him the princess.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“There is a mark yonder on the hill,” said he; “mayhap you can discern it.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The only men worth considering are Adolph Mayer, of 13, Great George Street, Westminster; Louis La Rothière, of Campden Mansions, Notting Hill; and Hugo Oberstein, 13, Caulfield Gardens, Kensington.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“If he has sprung his cattle up all these hills they’ll be spent ere they see Croydon,” said he.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The wood was pretty open, and keeping along the lower spurs, I had soon turned the corner of that hill, and not long after waded to the mid-calf across the watercourse.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It can climb a 20-degree hill or an obstacle up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) tall.

(Chinese Rover Making Tracks on Dark Side of the Moon, VOA)

A series of low hills resulted.

(Signs of Ancient Mars Lakes and Quakes Seen in New Map, NASA)