hummock
/ˈhʌmək
/noun
1A hillock or knoll.They watch for prey from slightly elevated perches such as hummocks, rocks, and fence posts....
- They sat on a raised hummock, and soon the hummock became an island as the water rose about them.
- Rounding off the pavilion's layers is a roof garden with grassy hummocks and a calm, reflecting pool.
Synonyms
hillock, hump, mound, knoll, tump, prominence, eminence, elevation, rise, dune, barrow, tumulus;
North American knob;
South African koppie
archaic knap, monticle
1.1A hump or ridge in an ice field.It can be a height of land, a hummock of ice, or any place of elevation that affords an observer a clear view of their surroundings to make good observations....
- Just a tiny little ice hummock that had been pushed up to form kind of a dinner-sized tabletop platform of ice that we thought might fit a single tent.
1.2North American A piece of forested ground rising above a marsh.The resulting hummock and hollow microtopography of the forest floor is characteristic of mixed conifer and cedar swamps in New York state.
Derivatives
hummocky
/ adjective ...- Topographically, it consists of uneven, hummocky terrain interspersed with small, shallow pools of highly acidic bog water.
- In hummocky terrain, the wire is presently suspended above the soil surface over hollows.
- They do not return to the vast hummocky moorlands until late May or even early June.
Origin
Mid 16th century (originally in nautical use denoting a small hillock on the coast): of unknown origin.