sandhill

3 3.8

A low hill made of loose sand often near coasts or in deserts

noun
/ˈsændˌhɪl/

: duna de arena

At sunset, the sandhill cast long shadows as the light danced across the grainy surface.
sandhill crane

Examples

We hiked up the steep sandhill to get a better view of the surrounding desert landscape.
That's what we call people that live like way on the West side of Nebraska and they live on the Sandhills out there.
It was left like a shell on a sandhill to fill with dry salt grains now that life had left it.
Chadron developed ahead of the railroad because speculators anticipated development west of Valentine and Nebraska's sandhills.

Academic text (1990)
Cut-through Lane, now disappeared, was a footpath cut through the sandhills and farms to Beeston, although the name later was rendered as Cutthroat Lane.

Academic text (1990)
Many landowners in the sandhills of North Carolina have signed such agreements for the protection of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis).

Academic text (1999)
The children played on the sandhill near the beach, enjoying the warm sun and soft sand.

Synonyms

dune

vssandhill

69 2.7

A hill of sand that wind makes on a beach or in a desert

is a broader sandy area that may not be formed specifically by wind

sand dune

vssandhill

14 3.2

A hill of sand that wind makes near a beach or in a desert

is a more general sandy area not necessarily formed by wind

Surface Forms

sandhill singular

sandhills plural

Morphology

sandhill = sand + hill (transparent) = sand + hill

Direct compound of 'sand' + 'hill' meaning a hill composed of sand, straightforward for learners who know both base words.

Etymology

Sandhill comes from the two simple words sand and hill, literally 'sand' + 'hill'. Picture a small hill of loose sand at the beach or in the desert, and you will see why a sandhill is a natural hill or area made of sand.