billow

[ bil-oh ]
See synonyms for: billowbillowedbillowing on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a great wave or surge of the sea.

  2. any surging mass: billows of smoke.

verb (used without object)
  1. to rise or roll in or like billows; surge.

  2. to swell out, puff up, etc., as by the action of wind: flags billowing in the breeze.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make rise, surge, swell, or the like: A sudden wind billowed the tent alarmingly.

Origin of billow

1
First recorded in 1545–55; from Old Norse bylgja “wave,” cognate with Middle Low German bulge; akin to Old English gebylgan “to anger, provoke”

Other words for billow

Other words from billow

  • un·der·bil·low, verb (used without object)

Words Nearby billow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use billow in a sentence

  • Like the surging of an ocean billow, it seemed to sweep over her; and then suddenly she screamed, and sank back upon the pillow.

    Love's Pilgrimage | Upton Sinclair
  • Death rode those cold waters, and every billow was a yawning grave.

  • It came up like a sonorous billow, swelling as it advanced, and becoming more and more distinct.

    The Underground City | Jules Verne
  • The schooner washed her nose in a curving billow that came inboard and swept aft.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for billow

billow

/ (ˈbɪləʊ) /


noun
  1. a large sea wave

  2. a swelling or surging mass, as of smoke or sound

  1. a large atmospheric wave, usually in the lee of a hill

  2. (plural) poetic the sea itself

verb
  1. to rise up, swell out, or cause to rise up or swell out

Origin of billow

1
C16: from Old Norse bylgja; related to Swedish bōlja, Danish bölg, Middle High German bulge; see bellow, belly

Derived forms of billow

  • billowing, adjective, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012