billingsgate

[ bil-ingz-geyt or, especially British, -git ]
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noun
  1. coarsely or vulgarly abusive language.

Origin of billingsgate

1
First recorded in 1645–55; originally the kind of speech often heard at Billingsgate, a London fish market at the gate of the same name

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British Dictionary definitions for billingsgate (1 of 2)

billingsgate

/ (ˈbɪlɪŋzˌɡeɪt) /


noun
  1. obscene or abusive language

Origin of billingsgate

1
C17: after Billingsgate, which was notorious for such language

British Dictionary definitions for Billingsgate (2 of 2)

Billingsgate

/ (ˈbɪlɪŋɡzˌɡeɪt) /


noun
  1. the largest fish market in London, on the N bank of the River Thames; moved to new site at Canary Wharf in 1982 and the former building converted into offices

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