Meaning & use
mound
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Meanings
nouncountable
A pile or small hill of earth, sand, or similar material.
Grammar: Countable: one mound, several mounds. Often followed by of: a mound of earth.
Patterns
- a mound of something
- build a mound
- a grassy mound
The children made a mound of sand at the beach.
A low mound of earth marked the spot where the pipe was buried.
We sat on a grassy mound and watched the sunset.
nounsingularsport
In baseball, the raised area where the pitcher stands.
Grammar: Usually 'the mound'; the definite article is normal because there is only one on the field.
Patterns
- on the mound
- take the mound
- the pitcher's mound
The pitcher walked slowly back to the mound.
He spent five seasons on the mound for the same team.
nouncountable
A large pile or quantity of something, especially when it looks untidy.
Grammar: Countable and usually followed by of: a mound of papers, mounds of laundry.
Patterns
- a mound of something
- mounds of something
There was a mound of dirty dishes in the sink.
Mounds of paperwork covered her desk.
Word forms
| plural | mounds |
|---|
Common combinations
- a mound of earth
- A mound of earth had been left beside the hole.
- a grassy mound
- The old well was hidden under a grassy mound.
- build a mound
- The ants build a mound around the entrance to their nest.
- the pitcher's mound
- He rubbed the dirt between his fingers on the pitcher's mound.
- mounds of paperwork
- She faced mounds of paperwork after the holiday.
Synonyms and how they differ
- heap
- A heap is a messy pile of things, often objects rather than earth, and is less likely to mean a small hill.
- hill
- A hill is a natural rise in the land and is usually much larger and more permanent than a mound.
- pile
- A pile is a general word for things stacked or thrown together; a mound suggests a rounded, earthlike shape.
Opposites
Word family
- mound verb
- to pile something up into a rounded shape, as in 'mound the rice in a bowl'.
Commonly confused: mound or mount?
mound vs mount
A mount is a horse you ride or a mountain in a name; a mound is a pile or small hill of earth.
Practice
The gardener raked the soil into a neat ______ around the new plant.
Choose one answer.
'Mound' is the countable noun that fits after 'a neat'. 'Mount' means a horse or a mountain, and 'mounding' is a verb form, so neither fits here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mound”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.