foothill n : a relatively low hill on the lower slope of a mountain

English

Noun

1. A hill at the base of a mountain or mountain range.

Foothills are geographically defined as gradual increases in hilly areas at the base of a mountain range. They are generally larger than hills, but not as tall as nearby mountains. Many neighborhoods and communities found in such a location are termed "the foothills".

Areas where foothills exist, or areas commonly referred to as the foothills, include:

• The Foothills of California in San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California
• The Colorado Front Range along the Rocky Mountains in Colorado
• The Wasatch Front along the Wasatch Mountains in Utah
• The foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada
• The Alpine foothills around the European Alps
• The Silesian Foothills in Silesia
• The Siwalik Hills along the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent
• The Catalina Foothills in Tucson, Arizona
• The Foothills in western North Carolina

Another word for a foothill region is "piedmont". The Piedmont region of Italy lies in the foothills of the Alps, and several other foothills in other parts of the world go by similar names; see piedmont (disambiguation).