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Antonyms for hill


Grammar : Noun
Spell : hil
Phonetic Transcription : hɪl



Definition of hill

Origin :
  • Old English hyll "hill," from Proto-Germanic *hulni- (cf. Middle Dutch hille, Low German hull "hill," Old Norse hallr "stone," Gothic hallus "rock," Old Norse holmr "islet in a bay," Old English holm "rising land, island"), from PIE root *kel- "to rise, be elevated, be prominent" (cf. Sanskrit kutam "top, skull;" Latin collis "hill," columna "projecting object," culmen "top, summit," cellere "raise," celsus "high;" Greek kolonos "hill," kolophon "summit;" Lithuanian kalnas "mountain," kalnelis "hill," kelti "raise"). Formerly including mountains, now usually confined to heights under 2,000 feet.
  • In Great Britain heights under 2,000 feet are generally called hills; 'mountain' being confined to the greater elevations of the Lake District, of North Wales, and of the Scottish Highlands; but, in India, ranges of 5,000 and even 10,000 feet are commonly called 'hills,' in contrast with the Himalaya Mountains, many peaks of which rise beyond 20,000 feet. [OED]The term mountain is very loosely used. It commonly means any unusual elevation. In New England and central New York, elevations of from one to two thousand feet are called hills, but on the plains of Texas, a hill of a few hundred feet is called a mountain. [Ralph S. Tarr, "Elementary Geology," Macmillan, 1903]Despite the differences in defining mountain systems, Penck (1896), Supan (1911) and Obst (1914) agreed that the distinction between hills, mountains, and mountain systems according to areal extent or height is not a suitable classification. ["Geographic Information Science and Mountain Geomorphology," 2004]
  • Phrase over the hill "past one's prime" is first recorded 1950.
  • noun uprising of earth's surface; pile
Example sentences :
  • Bivouacked on North-West side of hill, at a small water-hole.
  • Extract from : « Explorations in Australia » by John Forrest
  • The sides of this hill he covered with a layer of bricks that the sand might not be blown away.
  • Extract from : « Ancient Man » by Hendrik Willem van Loon
  • Windich and I fired our revolvers at them several times, and chased them up the hill.
  • Extract from : « Explorations in Australia » by John Forrest
  • This afternoon I took a round of angles and bearings from a pile of stones on the hill.
  • Extract from : « Explorations in Australia » by John Forrest
  • We sighted the range and hill seen by my brother, and reached it at sundown.
  • Extract from : « Explorations in Australia » by John Forrest
  • They all descended from the hill and came on slowly towards us.
  • Extract from : « Explorations in Australia » by John Forrest
  • The view from the summit of the hill is commanding and beautiful, but its grape is unique.
  • Extract from : « Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 » by Various
  • And Jeff Rankin rose without a word and lumbered to the top of the hill.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • As a rule he waited on the top of the hill in the clump of pines.
  • Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand
  • Down the hill they thundered, over the brook and up to the scene of the contest.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle

Synonyms for hill

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019