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
Many who rely on copper-wire landlines live in remote rural areas, but some also live in the hills and canyons of major metro areas like Los Angeles, where cell and internet service is patchy and the risk of natural disasters is high. — Jenny Jarvie follow, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026 For those with mobility issues or simply don’t want to tolerate a humid summer night in Madrid or tackle the hills in Lisbon, cars can be arranged. — Chadner Navarro, Robb Report, 9 July 2026 Much of that praise is thanks to its rich history, artistic treasures, and delicious food and wine, which often comes from the nearby hills of Chianti and Montalcino. — Laura Itzkowitz, Travel + Leisure, 8 July 2026 By Todd Woody, Bloomberg On a warm summer morning, two fire officials navigate an SUV along a narrow road that switchbacks high into the hills above the town of Fairfax, California, where thickets of trees conceal hundreds of homes. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 8 July 2026 Heavy rain can lead to flooding, and even minor floods can destroy outdoor habitats, like ant hills and rodent burrows. — Alora Bopray, USA Today, 8 July 2026 Just over the border in Wiltshire, the rolling green hills are peppered with eight other chalk horses. — Irenie Forshaw, TheWeek, 7 July 2026 The Yeakleys came from Greene County, Tennessee — same name, different hills, more than 600 miles east — arriving in Missouri around 1840. — Harry Bruinius, Christian Science Monitor, 5 July 2026 As Genesis 19 continues, Lot and his two daughters take shelter in a cave in the nearby hills. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hills
  1. piles
  2. mounds
  3. inclines
  4. banks
  5. stacks
  6. mountains
  7. ascents
  8. clumps
Noun
  • Keep the area around your home free from debris, such as leaf piles, mulch, and grass clippings.
    — Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 July 2026
  • Whether Spatial surrounds its reggae-toasting host with piles of drums, disorienting electronic beats, or locomotive rock music, Scratch abides as crooner, barker, mystic, meditation coach — whatever the moment requires.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 8 July 2026
Definition of piles
Noun
  • Plants form compact mounds six to 12 inches tall and wide, covered with fuzzy blooms resembling powder puffs.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 7 July 2026
  • In a recent, first-hand look in Spring Grove Cemetery in Hartford, Sportman quickly spotted mounds of dirt under dense overgrowth that encircle three-quarters of the hole at the gravesite of Sgt.
    — Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 5 July 2026
Definition of mounds
Noun
  • The riverfront includes steep inclines, large rocks and uneven ground that can be difficult for workers or machinery to manage safely.
    — Sophia Buonpane, Kansas City Star, 29 June 2026
  • Combat travel stiffness with simple SITS exercises (shoulder shrugs, inclines, twists, steps) and consider chiropractic care before and after your trip for spinal alignment.
    — Sherry McAllister, Forbes.com, 23 June 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
  • His suns stare curiously from one side of a page spread to another and his stacks of hay worriedly study the horizon, while his one-eyed stools and one-eyed fenceposts pop up like eager cyclopses.
    — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 7 July 2026
  • Proofs of concepts that look the most promising can quickly become dead ends when companies discover their data centers and tech stacks are not built to support them at scale.
    — Rohit Kapoor, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
Definition of stacks
Noun
  • Earlier this week, the Princess of Wales shared a glimpse into her completion of the National Three Peaks Challenge, an endurance event that required her to hike the tallest mountains in England, Scotland, and Wales.
    — Clara McMahon, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026
  • Swift and Kelce reportedly spent Independence Day weekend in 2025 at Yellowstone Club, the ultra-exclusive, members-only community tucked into the mountains of Big Sky.
    — Bryan West, USA Today, 7 July 2026
Definition of mountains
Noun
  • Those ascents have largely been unauthorized, but actor and musician Jared Leto was allowed to climb up to the base of the antenna from the 86th floor in 2023 to promote a tour.
    — Jennifer Peltz, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026
  • The route includes some short ascents and descents and takes place on a variety of paths, including pavement, loose gravel, and forest trails.
    — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 12 June 2026
Definition of ascents
Verb
  • 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
  • However, sometimes the abnormal IgA (the antibody that clumps up and causes problems) does run in families.
    — Brandi Jones, Health, 15 Jan. 2026
Definition of clumps

Browse Nearby Words

hillocky
hills
hilly
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hills.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hills. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on hills

Nglish: Translation of hills for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of xeric

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All