up hill and down dale
Here and there; everywhere.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I searched up hill and down dale for my lost keys.”
“The police searched up hill and down dale for the missing hiker before finding him in a cave.”
“Driven by a desperate need for answers, the detective traveled up hill and down dale, questioning every witness he could find across the vast, rugged countryside.”
- 01
gold in them thar hills
An opportunity for something to be profitable and/or beneficial.
- 02
head for the hills
To go to a safe place; to seek refuge; to flee.
- 03
hill to die on
An issue to pursue with a wholehearted conviction or a single-minded focus, with little or no regard to the cost and no intent of equivocation or compromise.
- 04
king of the hill
A person who is meanwhile in leading position in an ongoing competition.
- 05
old as the hills
Extremely old.
- 06
over the hills and far away
Far away; not near.
- 07
run for the hills
To flee.
- 08
take to the hills
To flee or vanish; to run away.
Last updated August 10, 2026