hillmen

Noun

hillman (plural hillmen)

1. A native or inhabitant of hilly or mountainous country; a tribesman who lives in the mountains.
   • The Dorey men, on the other hand, are shore-dwellers, fishers and traders in a small way, and have thus the character of a colony who have migrated from another district. These hillmen or "Arfaks" differed much in physical features. They were generally black, but some were brown like Malays.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 310
2. A supernatural being, such as a dwarf, that lives beneath a hill.
   • A farmer on whose ground there was a little hill, resolved not to let it lie idle, and began at one end to plough it up. The hill-man, who lived in it, came to him and asked him how he dared to plough on the roof of his house.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 186
3. (UK, historical) A person employed to sift through a heap of dust and rubbish in search of any saleable items.

See all 5 meanings of hillman