hills 1 of 2

noun

plural of hill
1
as in piles
a quantity of things thrown or stacked on one another the ants made little hills of dirt

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in mounds
an area of high ground a town nestled in a valley surrounded by green hills

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in inclines
an upward slope I got stuck behind a truck going up a hill in a no-passing zone

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

hills

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of hill
as in banks
to form into a pile or ridge of earth hilled peat moss around the rosebushes to protect them from the freeze

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hills
Noun
The province of Jijel, 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Algiers, renowned for its fine sandy beaches, turquoise waters and hills of olive trees and fruit trees and cedars, has suffered the greatest damage. — ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026 In spite of the growing number of houses springing up all around the BLM land north of Eagle, residents in the area continue to hear gunfire coming from the hills on a daily basis. — Idaho Statesman, 2 Sep. 2026 The latest planeload landed last week, four days after armed gangs massacred dozens of people in the hills above Port-au-Prince. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026 Sign Up for Our Free Daily Newsletter Some hills in northern Alabama are burial mounds from the Copena people who lived there 2,000 years ago. — Elizabeth Anne Brown, Scientific American, 2 Sep. 2026 Spanning 800-square miles and consisting of five counties — Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire — the Cotswolds is known for its rolling hills, golden stone, gardens and storybook towns and villages. — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 2 Sep. 2026 End in the Castelvetro hills at Cleto Chiarli, the family winery founded in 1860, for a tour and tasting devoted to the region’s Lambrusco. — Melinda Sheckells, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026 Sight lines then become site lines, as many art objects, like the Bateman Mercury, gaze beyond the museum toward Los Angeles, at nearby buildings or the distant surrounding hills. — George Baker, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026 Instead, he’s spent August anxiously watching the orange skies from his house in the northern Nevada hills through two consecutive and adjacent wild-land fires, the Bug and Hawk Fires. — Anya Kamenetz, Curbed, 28 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hills
  1. piles
  2. mounds
  3. inclines
  4. banks
  5. stacks
  6. mountains
  7. ascents
  8. clumps
Noun
  • Glossy tomatoes on the vine, a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano (party favors), piles of lemons, platters of antipasti, and dishes arriving from friends’ kitchens bring more life and color to a room than anything overly decorative ever could.
    — Elly Leavitt, Vogue, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Their charred carcasses litter the steep lanes leading to the villages, while the houses have been reduced to nothing more than piles of smoking ashes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of piles
Noun
  • And in a sense, chocolate may have helped build the Mississippian mounds.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Hike or bike trails in Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve, where Native American mounds dot a landscape overlooking the Mississippi River.
    — Taryn Shorr-Mckee, Midwest Living, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of mounds
Noun
  • Cows amble in the distance along the inclines of meadows; their grazing helps control invasive plants.
    — Kalpana Mohan, Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Bert McCarty, a Clemson University professor of turfgrass science and management, said golfers like how top courses are so different — from incorporating the ocean in places near beaches to relying on inclines in the mountains.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of inclines
Verb
  • Four minute into the game, Pop Isaacs banks a 3-pointer to put the Aggies ahead 8-4.
    — Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Investment banks Arctic Securities and ABG Sundal Collier have also opened new offices.
    — Jeremy Savory, Forbes.com, 18 Feb. 2026
Definition of banks
Noun
  • The fall 2026 campaign, shot by photographer Matt Easton, depicts Hilton next to stacks of retro TV sets broadcasting Not-Karl wearing a dark suit, tie and white shirt with a high collar.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 1 Sep. 2026
  • To the left, brown boxes and pallets lie in stacks where the youth services section will end up eventually.
    — Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of stacks
Noun
  • China Daily Nonetheless, for a nation that's made history building easy ways to get up and down mountains, this store feels almost old-fashioned.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park is known for its ancient mountains, diverse plant and animal life and preservation of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, according to the NPS website.
    — David Chiu, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of mountains
Noun
  • Visit Greece recommends June through October as the most accessible period for climbing; winter ascents require specialized experience and equipment.
    — Brittany Anas, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Whisenant was known in the climbing community for his speed ascents, including record-setting climbs in Yosemite.
    — Sophie Ziedalski, NBC news, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of ascents
Verb
  • Dividing clumps every few years in early spring also maintains their vigor.
    — SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 11 July 2026
  • Like generations of potential treatments before it, KRSA-028 is designed to break down a protein called amyloid that clumps up in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
    — Allison DeAngelis, STAT, 18 Feb. 2026
Definition of clumps

Browse Nearby Words

hillocky
hills
hilly
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Cite this Entry

“Hills.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hills. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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