billow
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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to rise or roll in or like billows; surge.
-
to swell out, puff up, etc., as by the action of wind.
flags billowing in the breeze.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a large sea wave
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a swelling or surging mass, as of smoke or sound
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a large atmospheric wave, usually in the lee of a hill
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poetic (plural) the sea itself
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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billowsimple
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billowssimple
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have billowedperfect
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has billowedperfect
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am billowingprogressive
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are billowingprogressive
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is billowingprogressive
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have been billowingperfect progressive
-
has been billowingperfect progressive
Past
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billowedsimple
-
had billowedperfect
-
was billowingprogressive
-
were billowingprogressive
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had been billowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of billow
First recorded in 1545–55; from Old Norse bylgja “wave,” cognate with Middle Low German bulge; akin to Old English gebylgan “to anger, provoke”
Explanation
Something billows when there's a fluid or blowing motion, such as the air filling a curtain at an open window, or smoke billowing from a fire. This word originally meant a wave, and that image should help you remember its current meaning too. The word usually suggests movement and growth, such as waves building and crashing. There are certain clouds that look like ocean waves, and so are called billow clouds. If you have a big shirt, the wind might make it fill with air and billow. Balloons are billowed when you inflate them. Billowing can also mean to move with difficulty — slowly.
Vocabulary lists containing billow
The Diary of Anne Frank
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List 6
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The One and Only Ivan
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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:
The region's oil export terminals have been hit several times in recent weeks, triggering massive fires that billow plumes of toxic black smoke into the atmosphere.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
And the roof, in turn, seems to billow from the chapel’s main tower, a white, silo-like mass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I was in northern New Jersey, and watched the smoke billow from the World Trade Center.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2025
I have just enough room in both shirts, but not so much that they billow unnecessarily out of my pants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024
He wears rose-pink robes that billow behind him.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
In even a light breeze the polyester billows, like a bedsheet on a clothesline, providing enough shade for a family.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
AFP journalists who traveled to the landfill site by boat saw billows of thick, gray smoke completely enveloping houses on Salambao -- one of the islands from which people were evacuated.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
His TikTok page billows with shortform clips from the crime scene—uploaded thrice-daily from his front-facing camera—offering benign commentary on the languishing investigation.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
Calderon’s yellow-and-gray striped shawl billows in the wind as she gazes toward the ocean.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2023
Snow falls in dozens of ways, in heavy overnight dumps and daytime, sideways squalls, in demoralizing sloppy sleet and fairy-tale billows of fluff.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Plumes of thick black smoke billowed into the air Sunday afternoon as firefighters struggled to contain a large industrial fire at a tire recycling facility in South Gate.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
Three days after the gunfight, the gates were wide open, and window drapes billowed in the breeze.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
I’m not sure what would provoke anyone to tune in, but like clockwork, the viewership billowed to the thousands.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
A plume of smoke billowed from the crash site as emergency vehicles sped towards it.
From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025
Smoke billowed up from the hot oil, and Teashop Aunty turned back to the stove.
From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman
Wildfires burning in Canada have sent the noxious smog billowing across the border, with residents in New York, Washington and the US Midwest urged to stay indoors due to dangerously low air quality.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Videos published by state media showed plumes of smoke billowing from the factory on Thursday, as firetrucks sprayed the building with water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
But levels of fine particulate matter spiked sharply during the main show, leaving people watching from the south with an obscured view as smoke came billowing their way.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Drone footage shows how widespread the fire was, with buildings spanning the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach in Bayahibe on fire and thick black smoke billowing into the air.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
The dead are not hovering nearby to knock politely at teacups and tabletops and whisper through billowing curtains.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
