bilbo
noun
a long iron bar or bolt with sliding shackles and a lock, formerly attached to the ankles of prisoners.
bilbo
1 American
[bil-boh]
/ ˈbɪl boʊ /
noun
-
bilboes
plural
bilbo
2
American
[bil-boh]
/ ˈbɪl boʊ /
noun
Archaic.
-
bilboes
plural
Bilbo
3
American
[bil-boh]
/ ˈbɪl boʊ /
noun
bilbo
British
/ ˈbɪlbəʊ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bilbo1
First recorded in 1550–60; earlier bilbow < ?
Origin of bilbo2
1585–95; short for Bilboa blade sword made in Bilboa (variant of Bilbao )
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.
See Examples For:
That is true enough," said Bothwell, as he slowly rose; "put up your bilbo, Tom.
From Old Mortality, Volume 1. by Sir Walter Scott
We shall come to bilbo and buff before long.
From Rob of the Bowl, Vol. I (of 2) A Legend of St. Inigoe's by John P. Kennedy
Castaldo calls the bilbo a “fated aspic,” upon the edge of which his “eye-balls crack to look,” and makes a raving exit from the stage, to a roaring laugh from the audience.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, September 5, 1841 by Various
Shakspeare humorously describes Falstaff in the buck-basket, like a good bilbo, coiled hilt to point.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher
Sir Iohn, and Maister mine, I combat craue Of this same laten bilbo.
From The Merry Wives of Windsor The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] by John Glover
Previously known for: The U.K. version of “The Office,” as Ricky Gervais’ droll underling Tim and “The Hobbit” trilogy in the role of heroic Bilbo Baggins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2024
The tale of Bilbo Baggins and his adventures through Middle Earth was written by Tolkien during his time in Oxford.
From BBC ● May 20, 2024
Mr. Dawood wrote in a Facebook post last year from a trip in Iceland, quoting Bilbo Baggins from “The Fellowship of the Ring.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
A: The rings of power takes place in the Second Age, which is thousands of years before the events of the Third Age, which most people know — Frodo and Bilbo and all of that.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2022
Bilbo left his place and went and stood on a chair under the illuminated tree.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Them apostles was fishermen, d’ye see, and the fishermen and longshore folk always was more peaceable and quieter-like than us deep-sea bilboes.
From Athelstane Ford by Allen Upward
Two weeks later his trial was had, and he was ordered "to be set into the bilboes," and afterwards sent prisoner to England.
From England in America, 1580-1652 by Lyon Gardiner Tyler
Soon another colonist felt the bilboes for “selling peeces and powder and shott to the Indians,” ever a bitterly-abhorred and fiercely-punished crime.
From Curious Punishments of Bygone Days by Alice Morse Earle
Then, if we do not obey their foolish rules, they nab us when we come into port again, and fine us—perhaps put us in the bilboes.
From Dulcibel A Tale of Old Salem by Howard Pyle
I'll give him a passport to Winchester bilboes.
From Wild Oats or, The Strolling Gentlemen by Anonymous
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.
