hummock

noun

hum·​mock ˈhə-mək How to pronounce hummock (audio)
1
: a rounded knoll or hillock
2
: a ridge of ice
3
hummock verb
hummocky adjective

Did you know?

Where did hummock come from?

Having trouble telling a hummock from a hammock from a hillock? Not to worry: all three words refer to a small hill or earthen mound. Hummock, in fact, is an alteration of hammock; this 16th century pair share an ancestor with the Middle Low German words hummel (“small height”) and hump (“bump”), the latter of which is also a distant relative of our English word hump. As for the 14th-century vintage hillock, a version of the suffix -ock has been attached to nouns to designate a small one of whatever since the days of Old English. Note that the hilly hammock mentioned here is not related to the hammock offering a swaying repose between supports. That hammock comes from the Spanish hamaca, and ultimately from Taino, a language spoken by the original inhabitants of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas.

Examples of hummock in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Craters pitted the earth; hummocks rose and fell; downed trees jutted from slash heaps like the spars of shipwrecks. Ben Goldfarb, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024 On that June evening, as the sun set, throwing billows of magenta clouds in the western sky, Heckscher saw ferns, grass-like sedges and hummocks of mosses, all signs of a healthy wetland. Madeline Bodin, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 May 2023 There, in a tangle of roots, dead wood and grass on a hummock about the size of a pitcher's mound, coiled a 2-foot-long snake. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2022 Its hummock was part of a wetland spiked with tamarack saplings and carpeted with wild cranberries. Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2022 Like a swarm of rattlesnakes trying to escape their den, the first rat launches itself off the hummock toward the safety of the Roseau cane, revealing five or six others beneath. Gerry Bethge, Outdoor Life, 21 Apr. 2020 The SoHo townhouse is packed with hummocks of clothes and sundry stuff, much of it to be donated to charity. Karen Heller, Washington Post, 23 Sep. 2019 Now the potholed muddy track meandering among the hummocks barely resembles a road. Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2019 As the permafrost thaws across Yakutia, some land sinks, transforming the terrain into an obstacle course of hummocks and craters — called thermokarst. Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hummock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

alteration of hammock entry 2

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hummock was in 1555

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Dictionary Entries Near hummock

Cite this Entry

“Hummock.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hummock. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hummock

noun
hum·​mock ˈhəm-ək How to pronounce hummock (audio)
1
: a rounded mound of earth : knoll
2
: a ridge or pile of ice
hummocky adjective

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