noun
knoll
NOHL/nəʊl/
A small rounded hill.
A low, grassy knoll rises above the surrounding level meadow.
Etymology
Cnoll could name both a small hill and a clod or ball. Those meanings share a compact, rounded shape, making a knoll a landscape-sized counterpart of a lump.
In context
the wanderer with faith may chance upon a knoll still open to the sky, and find the great mound bright in a robe of scented lavender
More examples
- We spread our picnic blanket on a knoll overlooking the lake.
- Several rounded knolls dot the otherwise flat farmland.
- The trail curves around a wooded knoll.
Forms
knoll · knolls
Similar words
- hillock
- Another small hill, without necessarily emphasizing its rounded shape.
- hill
- A raised area of land that may be much larger.