billy
[bil-ee]
- Also called billy club. a police officer's club or baton.
- a heavy wooden stick used as a weapon; cudgel.
- Scot. Dialect. comrade.
- Also called bil·ly·can [bil-ee-kan] /ˈbɪl iˌkæn/. Australian. any container in which water may be carried and boiled over a campfire, ranging from a makeshift tin can to a special earthenware kettle; any pot or kettle in which tea is boiled over a campfire.
- Textiles. (in Great Britain) a roving machine.
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Origin of billy
perhaps all independently derived generic uses of Billy (male name); for Australian sense compare Scots dialect billy-pot cooking pot
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
billy1
- US and Canadian a wooden club esp a police officer's truncheon
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Word Origin
C19: special use of the name Billy, pet form of William
billy2
billycan (ˈbɪlɪˌkæn)
- a metal can or pot for boiling water, etc, over a campfire
- Australian and NZ (as modifier)billy-tea
- Australian and NZ informal to make tea
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Word Origin
C19: from Scot billypot cooking vessel
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for billycan
billy
n.
"club," 1848, American English, originally burglars' slang for "crowbar;" meaning "policeman's club" first recorded 1856, probably from nickname of William, applied to various objects (cf. jack, jimmy, jenny).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper