mound

mound prehistoric earthwork erected over a burial place as a memorial or landmark, a defensive embankment, or a site for ceremonial or religious rites. Such structures are found in many parts of the world, but the name is applied in particular to those of North America, ascribed to a people known as Mound Builders . Sometimes the term is also applied to heaps of community refuse, as in shell mound .

mound2 (dial.) hedge, fence; embankment XVI; artificial elevation of earth or stones, tumulus XVIII perh. f. the somewhat earlier mound vb. enclose with a fence, of unkn. orig.

mound¹ / mound/ • n. a rounded mass projecting above a surface. ∎  a raised mass of earth, stones, or other compacted material, sometimes created artificially for purposes of defense or burial. ∎  a small hill. ∎  (a mound of/mounds of) a large pile or quantity of something: burying potential problems under mounds of cash. ∎  Baseball (in full pitcher’s mound) the elevated area from which the pitcher delivers the ball. • v. [tr.] heap up into a rounded pile: mound the pie filling slightly in the center. ∎ archaic enclose, bound, or fortify with an embankment: hills that mound the sea. PHRASES: take the mound Baseball (of a pitcher) have a turn at pitching: Morris will take the mound Tuesday. mound² • n. archaic a ball representing the earth, used as part of royal regalia, e.g., on top of a crown, typically of gold and surmounted by a cross.