Crossword clues for molehill
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Molehill \Mole"hill`\, n. A little hillock of earth thrown up by moles working under ground; hence, a very small hill, or an insignificant obstacle or difficulty; as, to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Having leapt over such mountains, lie down before a
molehill.
--South.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. A small mound of earth created by a mole's burrowing underneath the surface of the ground.
WordNet
n. a mound of earth made by moles while burrowing
Wikipedia
A molehill (or mole-hill, mole mound) is a conical mound of loose soil raised by small burrowing mammals, including moles, but also similar animals such as mole-rats, marsupial moles and voles. They are often the only sign to indicate the presence of the animal.
Molehills are waste material which come from digging or repairing burrows, and so are usually found where the animal is establishing new burrows, or where existing ones are damaged (for example by the weight of grazing livestock). Where moles burrow beneath the roots of trees or shrubs, the roots support the tunnel, and molehills are less common, and so even a dense population of the animals may be inconspicuous in these places.
Molehills commonly occur in lines along the route of the burrow, but in some cases they may not be directly above the burrow itself but at the ends of short side-tunnels. The mole runs vary in depth from surface runs only a few inches deep, to main runs, some 12 to 18 inches deep
Molehills are sometimes used as a source of fine soil for use in gardening. Particularly they are valued by some practicians of permaculture for the fine potting soil produced by the moles' claws.
Molehills have an important benefit to soil by aerating and tilling it, adding to its fertility. However, they may cause damage to gardens and areas of grass (such as golf courses), and represent a minor safety hazard.
Where mole-hills are not desired, the moles may be killed, or the fresh molehills may be removed carefully as soon as they appear. This leaves the animals and their galleries undamaged and thus reduces the need for the moles to make further molehills when they clear earth out of the tunnels.
Recording molehills may be the only reliable way to determine the number of moles in an area.
The common phrase "to make a mountain out of a molehill" (meaning to exaggerate a minor problem) stems from this soil's name.
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Usage examples of "molehill".
So when someone is making a mountain out of a molehill, they are pretending that something is as horrible as a war or a ruined picnic when it is really only as horrible as a stubbed toe.
Fenn scuffed the top of a molehill with his shoe as he raced toward his chosen spot.
Marsh Gordon is merely a molehill that I can crush with the heel of my boot.
She leaned back, wondering if discovering the seed was a molehill or a mountain.
Because the next disaster is Tony Donuts Junior, a goon the size of a mountain with a brain the size of a molehill and a moral sense even smaller.
Ten Commandments, you know, so stop trying to turn a molehill into a mountain!
The reporter skipped over fresh molehills, stumbling once but managing to keep his feet.
How many molehills such as that must first Be piled up each on each, ere you make A mountain equal to the least in Uri?
He was, however, so in the habit of fighting windmills and making mountains of molehills that he could not at first glance see any sudden presentment with a normal vision.
He had a nasty moment or two as the machine bumped over the snow-covered tussocks and molehills with which the pasture was plentifully besprinkled, but kicking on right rudder just before the Camel ran to a standstill he managed to swerve so that it stopped not far from the low hedge which divided the field from the paddock.
He speculated on whether a similar situation was developing between Raphaela and Jaguarundi, and decided he was making a mountain out of the proverbial molehill.
Their suspicions were aroused by every bush, however abject, by every mousehole, by a colony of molehills, and most of all by my grandmother, who sat there as if rooted to the spot, sighing, rolling her eyes so that the whites showed, listing the Kashubian names of all the saints -- all of which seemed to have been brought on by the poor performance of the fire and the overturning of her potato baskets.
I was afraid Nannie would think I was making a mountain out of a molehill, as nurse says.
SIR CHARLES is an upright, wellgroomed, grey-moustached, red-faced man of sixty-seven, with a keen eye for molehills, and none at all for mountains.
There has been a debate on what we will call liturgical formalisms, tempers have flared, but we mustn’t make mountains out of molehills.