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foothill

foothill

33 3.2
A low hill at the base of a mountain
  • noun
  • /ˈfʊtˌhɪl/
translation icon : estribación
  • Two stores located in the foothills of Vermont's highest mountain illustrate the stores' attunement to their surroundings.
  • foothill of a mountain
  • located in the foothills
  • run along the foothills

They walked through Woodlands towards the foothills that hid Mount On from the lowlands of Samurai.

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Examples

  • In the distance, the Ozark foothills hunkered dark and wet around the curve of the highway.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • After several years, a number of Nomlakis returned to settle in the foothills of their old territory....

    Academic text (2000)
  • The sun was halfway behind a foothill in the direction we had come from.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Do you want us to head into the foothills?

  • The foothills will be full of caves.

  • By late afternoon, they had climbed high into the foothills, close against the base of the mountains.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • They're in the foothills south of here.

  • Boardwalks form a path to the study sites, with the foothills of the Alaska Range visible in the distance.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The Sawiyano live largely in the foothills, the areas between 40 and 300 meters elevation.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The village lies nestled in the foothills of the majestic Rockies.

Synonyms

hill
vsfoothill
1.0

A raised area of land that is not as high as a mountain

is specifically the low slope at a mountain base
rise
vsfoothill
125 2.4

A small upward slope in land or a surface

is specifically the low mountain slope at the base and not any elevation
mound
vsfoothill
40 1.7

A small raised area of earth or stones

is located at a mountain base and forms the lower slopes
piedmont
vsfoothill
8.4

A gentle slope at the base of a mountain that leads to flat land

is the lower slopes that are part of the mountain itself

How Big

mountain
1.0
hill
1.0
foothill
33 3.2
knoll
20 7.2

Surface Forms

foothill singular
foothills plural

Morphology

foothill = foot + hill (transparent) = foot + hill

A direct compound of 'foot' + 'hill' meaning a hill at the foot (base) of a mountain; the meaning follows ordinary compounding.

Etymology

Foothill is made of foot and hill, so imagine a hill at the 'base' of a mountain, like a foot at the bottom of a body. That's why a foothill is a low hill that forms the lower slopes of a mountain.