Nearby Words
noun
1.
a great wave or surge of the sea.
2.
any surging mass: billows of smoke.
verb (used without object)
3.
to rise or roll in or like billows; surge.
4.
to swell out, puff up, etc., as by the action of wind: flags billowing in the breeze.
:10
:09
:08
:07
:06
:05
:04
:03
:02
:01
Billow
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
verb (used with object)
5.
to make rise, surge, swell, or the like: A sudden wind billowed the tent alarmingly.
Origin:
1545–55; < Old Norse bylgja wave, cognate with Middle Low German bulge; akin to Old English gebylgan to anger, provoke
1545–55; < Old Norse bylgja wave, cognate with Middle Low German bulge; akin to Old English gebylgan to anger, provoke
Related forms
un·der·bil·low, verb (used without object)
Synonyms
1. swell, breaker, crest, roller, whitecap.
1. swell, breaker, crest, roller, whitecap.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To billow
Example Sentences
- Curtains, for example, still billow in cold showers.
- What is more, only benign gaz are emitted in the atmosphere, and can billow away without damaging the ozone layer.
- Flag, supported by wires, appears to billow in the airless lunar environment.
Collins
World English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
billow
1550s, perhaps older in dialectal use, from O.N. bylgja "a wave," from P.Gmc. *bulgjan (cf. M.H.G. bulge "billow, bag"), from PIE *bhelgh- "to swell" (see belly). Related: Billowing; billowy.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.