billow
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
-
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
-
a large sea wave
-
a swelling or surging mass, as of smoke or sound
-
a large atmospheric wave, usually in the lee of a hill
-
poetic (plural) the sea itself
verb
Other Word Forms
- billowing adjective
- underbillow verb (used without object)
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”
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.
I opened the sack just outside the cottage and a thick, dusty powder billowed out.
From Literature
She said she was at a tourist market near her home in the small town of Bucerías, up the coast from Puerto Vallarta, on Sunday when she saw smoke billowing in the distance.
But when they spotted plumes of smoke billowing from the heart of town as they drove into the city, they decided to turn around.
From Los Angeles Times
Plumes of black smoke billowed into the sky.
Her sails billowed like a balloon; the mast lifted and toppled off the boat.
From Literature
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.
