billabong

[ bil-uh-bawng, -bong ]

/ ˈbɪl əˌbɔŋ, -ˌbɒŋ /

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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

bilith, biliverdin, bilk, bill, billable, billabong, billbergia, billboard, bill broker, billbug, billed

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use billabong in a sentence

He and Mitchell fished along the Billabong all the afternoon; I fished a little, and lay about the camp and read.
Over the Sliprails|Henry Lawson
I thought you'd sing anthems on the very word Billabong all through the voyage, especially in your bath.
Back To Billabong|Mary Grant Bruce
So they passed through Cunjee, and wheeled to the right towards the open country—the country that meant Billabong.
Back To Billabong|Mary Grant Bruce
Only, motors and Billabong don't go hand in hand—we've always stuck to horses, haven't we, Mr. Jim?
Back To Billabong|Mary Grant Bruce

The years had brought a good deal of sober sense to Bosun and Monarch, but motors were still unfamiliar objects on Billabong.
Back To Billabong|Mary Grant Bruce

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