hillock

English

Etymology

From Middle English hillok, equivalent to hill +‎ -ock.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɪl.ək/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlək

Noun

hillock (plural hillocks)

1. A small hill.
   • 1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter XI, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 107:

     As he rounded a hillock, he perceived that the roadway was now a crying mass of wagons, teams, and men.

   • 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 63:

     With the setting sun sending long shadows loping ahead of them over the smooth hillocks of the downs, they came up with the lagoon; a contentful return home, with appetite brisked up by a ten-mile walk, and plenty of food to satisfy it.

   • 2014 September 16, Ian Jack, “Is this the end of Britishness”, in The Guardian:

     Just upstream of Dryburgh Abbey, a reproduction of a classical Greek temple stands at the top of a wooded hillock on the river’s north bank.

Synonyms

• toman

Derived terms

• axon hillock

Translations

See also

• hummock