A hill near the foot of a mountain range.
1873. In California, everything under two thousand feet high is called a hill; if it leads up to a mountain, a foothill.—J. H. Beadle, ‘The Undeveloped West,’ p. 253 (Phila., &c.).
1879. The long ascent through sweeping foot hills to the gates of rock.—Miss Bird, ‘Rocky Mountains,’ p. 232. (N.E.D.)
