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billabong

[ bil-uh-bawng, -bong ]
/ ˈbɪl əˌbɔŋ, -ˌbɒŋ /

noun Australian.

a branch of a river flowing away from the main stream but leading to no other body of water; a blind or dead-end channel.
a creek bed holding water only in the rainy season; a dried-up watercourse.
a stagnant backwater or slough formed by receding floodwater.

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Origin of billabong

1830–40; <Wiradjuri bilabaŋ creek that runs only during the rainy season, equivalent to bila river + baŋ possessive suffix

Words nearby billabong

biliuria, biliverdin, bilk, bill, billable, billabong, billbergia, billboard, bill broker, billbug, billed
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for billabong

British Dictionary definitions for billabong

billabong
/ (ˈbɪləˌbɒŋ) /

noun Australian

a backwater channel that forms a lagoon or pool
a branch of a river running to a dead end

Word Origin for billabong

C19: from a native Australian language, from billa river + bong dead
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