billingsgate

[ bil-ingz-geyt or, esp. British, -git ]

/ ˈbɪl ɪŋzˌgeɪt or, esp. British, -gɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR billingsgate ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

coarsely or vulgarly abusive language.

Nearby words

billing machine, billings, billings method, billings, josh, billings, william, billingsgate, billion, billionaire, billionth, billiton, billman

Origin of billingsgate

First recorded in 1645–55; orig. the kind of speech often heard at Billingsgate, a London fish market at the gate of the same name

SYNONYMS FOR billingsgate

vituperation, vilification, invective, scurrility, vulgarity.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR billingsgate ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for billingsgate

Not many years since, one of the London notorieties was to hear the fishwomen at Billingsgate abuse each other.
A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words|A London Antiquary
But I have an infernally absurd jargon—half the language of men of the world and of letters, half of Billingsgate.
Diderot and the Encyclopdists|John Morley
The two women recommenced their billingsgate, the boy stuttered, the soldiers laughed, and the dog howled.
San-Cravate; or, The Messengers; Little Streams|Charles Paul de Kock
I went down to Billingsgate Stairs and took boat and was rowed about the ships in the Pool.
The Orange Girl|Walter Besant

Besides these, were long litanies of billingsgate, cursing, and threatening.
History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom|Andrew Dickson White

British Dictionary definitions for billingsgate (1 of 2)

billingsgate

/ (ˈbɪlɪŋzˌɡeɪt) /

noun

obscene or abusive language

Word Origin for billingsgate

C17: after Billingsgate, which was notorious for such language

British Dictionary definitions for billingsgate (2 of 2)

Billingsgate

/ (ˈbɪlɪŋɡzˌɡeɪt) /

noun

the largest fish market in London, on the N bank of the River Thames; moved to new site at Canary Wharf in 1982 and the former building converted into offices

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 billingsgate

billingsgate

1670s, the kind of coarse, abusive language once used by women in the Billingsgate market on the River Thames below London Bridge.

Billingsgate is the market where the fishwomen assemble to purchase fish; and where, in their dealings and disputes they are somewhat apt to leave decency and good manners a little on the left hand. ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]

The place name is Old English Billingesgate, "gate of (a man called) Billing;" the "gate" probably being a gap in the Roman river wall. The market is mid-13c., not exclusively a fish market until late 17c.

billingsgate

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of billingsgate

Examples from the Web for billingsgate

British Dictionary definitions for billingsgate (1 of 2)

billingsgate

noun

Word Origin for billingsgate

British Dictionary definitions for billingsgate (2 of 2)

Billingsgate

noun

Word Origin and History for billingsgate

billingsgate