hill station

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableIndian

   A town in the mountains of South Asia, with a cool climate, where people go to escape summer heat on the plains.

   Grammar: Countable: Shimla is a famous hill station.

   Patterns

   • a hill station in somewhere
   • visit a hill station

   Many families spend May in a hill station like Darjeeling.

   Shimla was developed as a hill station by the British.

   We took a winding road up to the hill station.

2. 2nouncountable

   A mountain resort town, especially in a tropical country, popular for its cooler weather.

   Grammar: Used more widely in travel writing.

   Patterns

   • a hill station near something

   Cameron Highlands is a hill station popular with tourists.

   The old hill station is surrounded by tea gardens.

   They opened a hotel in a quiet hill station.

Word forms

Common combinations

popular hill station

Ooty is a popular hill station in southern India.

colonial hill station

The colonial hill station still has its old churches.

visit a hill station

They plan to visit a hill station during the holidays.

summer hill station

The summer hill station was packed with visitors.

remote hill station

A remote hill station can be hard to reach in the monsoon.

Synonyms and how they differ

mountain resort

Mountain resort is a broad term for places that may be built for skiing or hiking, while hill station implies cooler retreat for heat.

highland town

Highland town only gives the location and lacks the idea of a retreat from heat.

retreat

Retreat can be any quiet getaway, but hill station refers to a specific kind of town.

Word family

hill noun

a raised area of land

station noun

a place, here a settlement

hillside noun

the slope of a hill

hilltop noun

the top of a hill

Commonly confused: hill station or hill start?

Practice

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