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Synonyms

hill

1 American  
[hil] / hɪl /

noun

  1. a natural elevation of the earth's surface, smaller than a mountain.

    Synonyms:
    foothill, hillock, knoll, mound, prominence, eminence
    Antonyms:
    valley, hollow

  2. an incline, especially in a road.

    This old jalopy won't make it up the next hill.

  3. an artificial heap, pile, or mound.

    a hill made by ants.

  4. a small mound of earth raised about a cultivated plant or a cluster of such plants.

  5. the plant or plants so surrounded.

    a hill of potatoes.

  6. Baseball. mound.

  7. the Hill. Capitol Hill.

verb (used with object)

  1. to surround with hills.

    to hill potatoes.

  2. to form into a hill or heap.

idioms

  1. go over the hill,

    1. to break out of prison.

    2. to absent oneself without leave from one's military unit.

    3. to leave suddenly or mysteriously.

      Rumor has it that her husband has gone over the hill.

  2. over the hill,

    1. relatively advanced in age.

    2. past one's prime.

Hill 2 American  
[hil] / hɪl /

noun

  1. Ambrose Powell 1825–65, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.

  2. Archibald Vivian 1886–1977, English physiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1922.

  3. James Jerome, 1838–1916, U.S. railroad builder and financier, born in Canada.

  4. Joe, 1879–1915, U.S. labor organizer and songwriter, born in Sweden.

hill 1 British  
/ hɪl /

noun

    1. a conspicuous and often rounded natural elevation of the earth's surface, less high or craggy than a mountain

    2. ( in combination )

      a hillside

      a hilltop

    1. a heap or mound made by a person or animal

    2. ( in combination )

      a dunghill

  3. an incline; slope

    1. informal beyond one's prime

    2. slang military absent without leave or deserting

  5. strenuously and persistently

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to form into a hill or mound

  2. to cover or surround with a mound or heap of earth

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Hill 2 British  
/ hɪl /

noun

  1. 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)

  2. Damon Graham Devereux, son of Graham Hill. born 1960, British motor-racing driver; Formula One world champion (1996)

  3. David Octavius 1802–70, Scottish painter and portrait photographer, noted esp for his collaboration with the chemist Robert Adamson (1821–48)

  4. 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)

  5. Graham. 1929–75, British motor-racing driver: world champion (1962, 1968)

  6. Octavia. 1838–1912, British housing reformer; a founder of the National Trust

  7. Sir Rowland. 1795–1879, British originator of the penny postage

  8. 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)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
hill More Idioms  

  1. see downhill all the way; go downhill; head for (the hills); make a mountain out of a molehill; not worth a dime (hill of beans); old as Adam (the hills); over the hill.

Other Word Forms

  • hiller noun
  • hilly adjective
  • underhill noun

Etymology

Origin of hill

before 1000; Middle English; Old English hyll; cognate with Middle Dutch hille, Latin collis hill; compare Latin culmen top, peak ( column, culminate ), celsus lofty, very high, Gothic hallus rock, Lithuanian kálnas mountain, Greek kolōnós hill, kolophṓn summit ( colophon )

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.

“I imagine it might take all day to get that hose off the hill,” Fligiel said in a group chat early the morning of Jan. 1.

From Los Angeles Times

Around 25 miles with maybe only three to go, I started descending a small hill.

From The Wall Street Journal

But there's a steep hill to climb: Only one of this year's main Brit Award nominees, the singer-songwriter Chrystal, came from Manchester.

From BBC

Out of their victory over sin and guilt, Hawthorne builds the “city on a hill” that the American republic would become: a dynamic vessel for people and ideas fleeing an exhausted Old World.

From The Wall Street Journal

Trefor sits beneath the twin peaks of The Rivals - the steep hills that mark the entrance to the northern side of the Llyn Peninsula.

From BBC

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.