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billabong

[bil-uh-bawng, -bong]
noun Australian.
  1. 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.
  2. a creek bed holding water only in the rainy season; a dried-up watercourse.
  3. 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for billabong

Historical Examples of billabong

  • Does he think we've never a scales on Billabong, did ye ask him?

    Back To Billabong

    Mary Grant Bruce

  • No one can say the Billabong representative doesn't look fit.

    Back To Billabong

    Mary Grant Bruce

  • "But there never was any union touch about Billabong," said Mrs. Brown.

    Back To Billabong

    Mary Grant Bruce

  • But I drove the old buggy away from Billabong, and I'll drive home now.

    Back To Billabong

    Mary Grant Bruce

  • And Billabong has adopted you, and we're going to see that you make a success of things.

    Back To Billabong

    Mary Grant Bruce

British Dictionary definitions for billabong

billabong

noun Australian
  1. a backwater channel that forms a lagoon or pool
  2. a branch of a river running to a dead end
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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

Word Origin and History for billabong

Australian, "backwater, stagnant pool," 1865, from Billibang, Aboriginal name of Bell River, from billa "water" + bang, of uncertain meaning.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper