molehill

Everyday

1. A small pile of earth pushed up by a mole digging its tunnels underground. tree →
2. In the saying «make a mountain out of a molehill»: to treat a small problem as if it were a huge one. tree →

In the lessons

In nature lessons molehills on a lawn or field show that a mole lives underground. In everyday speech and stories, the idiom tells the reader that someone is overreacting. Phrases: «make a mountain out of a molehill», «a field full of molehills».

Examples

• The football pitch was covered in molehills. tree →
• A mole digs tunnels and pushes the soil up into molehills. tree →
• You've only lost a pencil — don't make a mountain out of a molehill! tree →
• Grandad grumbled about the molehills on his lawn. tree →
• We never saw the mole, only fresh molehills each morning. tree →
• Mum said the argument was a molehill, not a mountain. tree →
• Gardeners sometimes use the fine soil from molehills for seed pots. tree →

Note

Countable: a molehill, molehills. One word. The idiom is common and means «overreacting». The animal is a mole; do not confuse with «mole» the dark spot on skin or «mole» in chemistry.