Adjacent Words

Billet definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BILL'ET, n. [dim. of bill;]
A small paper or note in writing, used for various purposes; sometimes it is a short letter, addressed to some person; sometimes a ticket directing soldiers at what house to lodge.
In heraldry, billet is a bearing in the form of a long square.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a short personal letter; "drop me a line when you get there" [syn: note, short letter, line, billet]
2: lodging for military personnel (especially in a private home)
3: a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the treasury" [syn: position, post, berth, office, spot, billet, place, situation] v
1: provide housing for (military personnel) [syn: quarter, billet, canton]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English bylet, from Anglo-French billette, diminutive of bille bill Date: 15th century 1. archaic a brief letter ; note 2. a. an official order directing that a member of a military force be provided with board and lodging (as in a private home) b. quarters assigned by or as if by a billet 3. position, job <a lucrative billet> II. transitive verb Date: 1594 1. to assign lodging to (as soldiers) by or as if by a billet 2. to serve with a billet <billet a householder> III. noun Etymology: Middle English bylet, from Anglo-French billete, diminutive of bille log, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish bile landmark tree Date: 15th century 1. a. a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood) b. obsolete cudgel 2. a. a bar of metal b. a piece of semifinished iron or steel nearly square in section made by rolling an ingot or bloom c. a section of nonferrous metal ingot hot-worked by forging, rolling, or extrusion d. a nonferrous casting suitable for rolling or extrusion

U.S. Military Dictionary

1. Shelter for troops. 2. To quarter troops. 3. A personnel position or assignment that may be filled by one person.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a a place where troops etc. are lodged, usu. with civilians. b a written order requiring a householder to lodge the bearer, usu. a soldier. 2 colloq. a situation; a job. --v.tr. (billeted, billeting) 1 (usu. foll. by on, in, at) quarter (soldiers etc.). 2 (of a householder) provide (a soldier etc.) with board and lodging. Derivatives: billetee n. billeter n. Etymology: ME f. AF billette, AL billetta, dimin. of billa BILL(1) 2. n. 1 a thick piece of firewood. 2 a small metal bar. 3 Archit. each of a series of short rolls inserted at intervals in Norman decorative mouldings. Etymology: ME f. F billette small log, ult. prob. of Celtic orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Billet Bil"let, n. Quarters or place to which one is assigned, as by a billet or ticket; berth; position. Also used fig. [Colloq.] The men who cling to easy billets ashore. --Harper's Mag. His shafts of satire fly straight to their billet, and there they rankle. --Pall Mall Mag.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Billet Bil"let, n. [F. billette, bille, log; of unknown origin; a different word from bille ball. Cf. Billiards, Billot.] 1. A small stick of wood, as for firewood. They shall beat out my brains with billets. --Shak. 2. (Metal.) A short bar of metal, as of gold or iron. 3. (Arch.) An ornament in Norman work, resembling a billet of wood either square or round. 4. (Saddlery) (a) A strap which enters a buckle. (b) A loop which receives the end of a buckled strap. --Knight. 5. (Her.) A bearing in the form of an oblong rectangle.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Billard Bil"lard, n. (Zo["o]l.) An English fish, allied to the cod; the coalfish. [Written also billet and billit.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Billet Bil"let, n. [F. billet, dim. of an OF. bille bill. See Bill a writing.] 1. A small paper; a note; a short letter. ``I got your melancholy billet.'' --Sterne. 2. A ticket from a public officer directing soldiers at what house to lodge; as, a billet of residence.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Billet Bil"let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Billeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Billeting.] [From Billet a ticket.] (Mil.) To direct, by a ticket or note, where to lodge. Hence: To quarter, or place in lodgings, as soldiers in private houses. Billeted in so antiquated a mansion. --W. Irving.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(billets, billeting, billeted) 1. If members of the armed forces are billeted in a particular place, that place is provided for them to stay in for a period of time. The soldiers were billeted in private homes. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed adv/prep 2. A billet is a house where a member of the armed forces has been billeted. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Note, short letter. 2. Stick, small piece, fagot, splitting. II. v. a. Assign (to a lodging-place, as soldiers, by a billet), apportion, allot, distribute, quarter, place in lodgings. III. v. n. Be quartered, lodge, have one's quarters.

Moby Thesaurus

achievement, acknowledgment, alerion, anchor, animal charge, annulet, answer, appointment, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, azure, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, baton, beam, bearings, bed, bend, bend sinister, berth, bestow, billet at, bivouac, blazon, blazonry, board, boarding, bordure, broad arrow, bunk, burrow, business letter, cadency mark, camp, canton, chaplet, charge, chevron, chief, chit, clapboard, coat of arms, cockatrice, colonize, come to anchor, communication, connection, cord, cordwood, coronet, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown, deal, device, difference, differencing, dispatch, domesticate, domicile, domiciliate, driftwood, drop anchor, eagle, employment, engagement, ensconce, entertain, epistle, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, establish residence, falcon, favor, fess, fess point, field, file, firewood, flanch, fleur-de-lis, fret, fur, fusil, garland, gig, griffin, gules, gyron, harbor, hardwood, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, hive, honor point, house, hut, impalement, impaling, incumbency, inescutcheon, ingot, inhabit, job, keep house, label, lath, lathing, lathwork, letter, line, lion, live at, locate, lodge, log, lozenge, lumber, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle, message, metal, missive, moonlighting, moor, motto, move, mullet, nest, nombril point, note, octofoil, office, opening, or, ordinary, orle, pale, paly, panelboard, paneling, panelwork, park, pean, people, perch, pheon, place, plank, planking, plyboard, plywood, pole, populate, position, post, puncheon, purpure, put up, quarter, quartering, relocate, reply, rescript, reside, rod, room, roost, rose, sable, saltire, scutcheon, second job, service, set up housekeeping, set up shop, settle, settle down, shake, sheathing, sheathing board, sheeting, shelter, shield, shingle, sideboard, siding, sit down, situation, slab, slat, softwood, splat, spot, spread eagle, squat, stable, stand, station, stave, stay at, stick, stick of wood, stovewood, strike root, strip, subordinary, take residence at, take root, take up residence, tenne, tenure, three-by-four, timber, timbering, timberwork, tincture, torse, tressure, two-by-four, unicorn, vacancy, vair, vert, weatherboard, wood, wreath, yale