A foothill is one of the smaller hills that sit below a group of high mountains, at the place where the land starts to rise. You nearly always hear the plural: the foothills. Travellers, geography books, and weather reports use it.

A foothill一座foothill is one of the smaller hills是位在一群高山下方的較小山丘之一，that sit below a group of high mountains，at the place where the land starts to rise就在地勢開始升高的地方。You nearly always hear the plural你幾乎都會聽到複數形：the foothills也就是the foothills。Travellers, geography books, and weather reports旅人、地理書、和天氣報告 use it都會用這個字。

The “foot” here is the bottom or base, as in the foot of the mountain — not the body part doing the walking, though the picture is related. A foothill is not the high peak, and it is not the flat plain in front; it is the lower, kinder ground in between.

The "foot" here這裡的「foot」 is the bottom or base指的是底部或基底，as in the foot of the mountain就像the foot of the mountain（山腳）一樣——not the body part doing the walking不是指走路用的那個「腳」，though the picture is related雖然意象上有關聯。A foothill is not the high peakFoothill不是高聳的山峰，and it is not the flat plain in front也不是前方的平原；it is the lower, kinder ground in between而是介於兩者之間、地勢較低、較平緩的地方。

People sometimes stretch it in writing (“the foothills of a career”) to mean the early, lower slopes of something big, but the home meaning is the hills themselves.

People sometimes stretch it in writing人們有時會在寫作中延伸這個字（"the foothills of a career"像"the foothills of a career"）to mean the early, lower slopes of something big來指某件大事早期、較低階的階段，but the home meaning is the hills themselves但它本來的意思還是指那些山丘本身。