English Dictionary

HILL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Hill mean? 

HILL (noun)
  The noun HILL has 5 senses:

1. a local and well-defined elevation of the landplay

2. structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stonesplay

3. United States railroad tycoon (1838-1916)play

4. risque English comedian (1925-1992)play

5. (baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher standsplay

  Familiarity information: HILL used as a noun is common.


HILL (verb)
  The verb HILL has 1 sense:

1. form into a hillplay

  Familiarity information: HILL used as a verb is very rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


HILL (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

A local and well-defined elevation of the land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

they loved to roam the hills of West Virginia

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 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

hill; mound

Context example:

they built small mounds to hide behind

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"):

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)

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

Derivation:

hill (form into a hill)


Sense 3

Meaning:

United States railroad tycoon (1838-1916)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Hill; J. J. Hill; James Jerome Hill

Instance hypernyms:

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


Sense 4

Meaning:

Risque English comedian (1925-1992)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Alfred Hawthorne; Benny Hill; Hill

Instance hypernyms:

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


Sense 5

Meaning:

(baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

hill; mound; pitcher's mound

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)


HILL (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)


 Context examples 


The woman rent a cabin on the hill, and for one week I see her no more.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

We have an inspector who makes a specialty of Saffron Hill and the Italian Quarter.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lydia, my love, ring the bell—I must speak to Hill this moment.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Telegraph Hill, of course, is your port of entry.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

My friend would stay some little time at the fall, he said, and would then walk slowly over the hill to Rosenlaui, where I was to rejoin him in the evening.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So he said, "I'm sorry not to do as you wish, but we must pass over your hill whether you like it or not," and he walked boldly forward.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

He walked much, out in the hills, and loafed long hours in the quiet parks.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He will require some few weeks' rest in our sanatorium in the hills, but will then return.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was here, while we crossed the first of these hills, that an incident occurred which may or may not have been important.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

All walked quietly through the garden, out at the little back gate, and began to climb the hill that lay between the house and river.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." (English proverb)

"Each bird loves to hear himself sing." (Native American proverb, Arapaho)

"If you mentioned the wolf you better prepare the stick." (Arabic proverb)

"By firelight, an old rag looks like sturdy hemp fabric." (Corsican proverb)



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