billy
noun
a police officer's club or baton.
billy
1 American
[bil-ee]
/ ˈbɪl i /
noun
billies
plural
-
Also called billy club. a police officer's club or baton.
-
a heavy wooden stick used as a weapon; cudgel.
-
Scot. Dialect. comrade.
-
Also called billycan. Australian. any container in which water may be carried and boiled over a campfire, ranging from a makeshift tin can to a special earthenware kettle; any pot or kettle in which tea is boiled over a campfire.
-
Textiles. (in Great Britain) a roving machine.
Billy
2
American
[bil-ee]
/ ˈbɪl i /
noun
billy
1
British
/ ˈbɪlɪˌkæn, ˈbɪlɪ /
noun
-
a metal can or pot for boiling water, etc, over a campfire
-
( as modifier )
billy-tea
-
informal to make tea
billy
2
British
/ ˈbɪlɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of billy
Perhaps all independently derived generic uses of Billy (male name); for Australian sense compare Scots dialect billy-pot cooking pot
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Securities and Exchange Commission in 2016 of getting an insider trading tip and buying $931,000 of stock from sports gambler Billy Walters.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, the tale of silent film star Norma Desmond’s descent into murderous derangement as her Hollywood comeback stays out of frame, is the other.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026
What a setback for anyone who saw a childhood ruined by Bucky Dent, or yanks the plug when the jukebox cranks up Billy Joel.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, and Mako and Billy Vunipola dutifully served out a single-season spell in the second tier.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Billy Lee made his way to New York, his travels slowed by the severe pain in his damaged knees.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
