MOUND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mound mean? 

• MOUND (noun)
  The noun MOUND has 5 senses:

1. (baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands

2. a small natural hill

3. a collection of objects laid on top of each other

4. structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones

5. the position on a baseball team of the player who throws the ball for a batter to try to hit

  Familiarity information: MOUND used as a noun is common.

• MOUND (verb)
  The verb MOUND has 1 sense:

1. form into a rounded elevation

  Familiarity information: MOUND used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MOUND (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(baseball) the slight elevation on which the pitcher stands

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

hill; mound; pitcher's mound

Hypernyms ("mound" is a kind of...):

baseball equipment (equipment used in playing baseball)

Domain category:

ball; baseball; baseball game (a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs)

Holonyms ("mound" is a part of...):

baseball diamond; diamond; infield (the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small natural hill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

hammock; hillock; hummock; knoll; mound

Hypernyms ("mound" is a kind of...):

hill (a local and well-defined elevation of the land)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mound"):

anthill; formicary (a mound of earth made by ants as they dig their nest)

kopje; koppie (a small hill rising up from the African veld)

molehill (a mound of earth made by moles while burrowing)

Derivation:

mound (form into a rounded elevation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A collection of objects laid on top of each other

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

agglomerate; cumulation; cumulus; heap; mound; pile

Hypernyms ("mound" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mound"):

shock (a pile of sheaves of grain set on end in a field to dry; stalks of Indian corn set up in a field)

stockpile (a storage pile accumulated for future use)

woodpile (a pile or stack of wood to be used for fuel)

funeral pyre; pyre (wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite)

stack (an orderly pile)

slagheap (pile of waste matter from coal mining etc)

scrapheap (pile of discarded metal)

dunghill; midden; muckheap; muckhill (a heap of dung or refuse)

compost heap; compost pile (a heap of manure and vegetation and other organic residues that are decaying to become compost)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

hill; mound

Context example:

they built small mounds to hide behind

Hypernyms ("mound" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mound"):

barbette ((formerly) a mound of earth inside a fort from which heavy gun can be fired over the parapet)

barrow; burial mound; grave mound; tumulus ((archeology) a heap of earth placed over prehistoric tombs)

embankment (a long artificial mound of stone or earth; built to hold back water or to support a road or as protection)

snow bank; snowbank (a mound or heap of snow)

Derivation:

mound (form into a rounded elevation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The position on a baseball team of the player who throws the ball for a batter to try to hit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

mound; pitcher

Context example:

they have a southpaw on the mound

Hypernyms ("mound" is a kind of...):

position ((in team sports) the role assigned to an individual player)

Holonyms ("mound" is a member of...):

baseball team (a team that plays baseball)

• MOUND (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form into a rounded elevation

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

mound earth

Hypernyms (to "mound" is one way to...):

forge; form; mold; mould; shape; work (make something, usually for a specific function)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "mound"):

mound over (form a mound over)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

mound (structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones)

mound (a small natural hill)

 Context examples 

The results found that mussels piled up in mounds around salt grass stems helped to protect the grasses by improving water storage around their roots and reducing soil salinity.

(Biodiversity in salt marshes builds climate resilience, NSF)

It is then reattached to the chest to form a new breast mound.

(Free flap, NCI Dictionary)

Tissue, including skin, fat, and muscle, is moved from one area of the body, such as the back or abdomen, to the chest to form a new breast mound.

(Pedicle flap, NCI Dictionary)

In a moment, the four pirates had swarmed up the mound and were upon us.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The results indicate that termite mounds could make these areas more resilient to climate change.

(Dirt mounds made by termites in Africa, South America, Asia could prevent spread of deserts, NSF)

All round were high and turreted walls, with at the corner a bare square-faced keep, gaunt and windowless, rearing up from a lofty mound, which made it almost inaccessible to an assailant.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now, the Common where I walk with Dora is all in bloom, a field of bright gold; and now the unseen heather lies in mounds and bunches underneath a covering of snow.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The technique pinpointed deposits in several Martian crater central peaks, the craggy mounds that often form in the center of a crater during a large impact.

(NASA Spacecraft Detects Impact Glass on Surface of Mars, NASA)

The deposits are scattered across the moon’s dark volcanic plains and are characterized by a mixture of smooth, rounded, shallow mounds next to patches of rough, blocky terrain.

(Evidence for Young Lunar Volcanism, NASA)

Knots and ridges and mounds of muscles writhed and bunched under the skin.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)