Definition of "hilling" [hill•ing]

• The act or process of heaping or drawing earth around plants. (noun)

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• "The corn hills I planted well apart, because later, in hilling up, I would need room to draw earth from all directions over the roots to protect them from the sun, that they might not dry out."
• "Many birds, especially males, in the breeding season, are taken by decoying them into nets or snares by tame or wild birds of the opposite sex; in fact, advantage was wont to be taken of the pugnacity or devotion of the Ruffes when "hilling," by previously setting springes or nets on their battle-ground, into which said snares they danced, when courting or fighting (see Daniel, vol. U, p. 212)."
• "The operation of "hilling" consists in drawing up the soil about the stems of growing plants, usually at the time of second or third hoeing."