Adjacent Words

Billow definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BIL'LOW, n. A great wave or surge of the sea, occasioned usually by violent wind. It can hardly be applied to the waves of a river, unless in poetry, or when the river is very large.
BIL'LOW, v.i. To swell; to rise and roll in large waves, or surges.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a large sea wave [syn: billow, surge] v
1: rise up as if in waves; "smoke billowed up into the sky" [syn: billow, wallow]
2: move with great difficulty; "The soldiers billowed across the muddy riverbed"
3: rise and move, as in waves or billows; "The army surged forward" [syn: billow, surge, heave]
4: become inflated; "The sails ballooned" [syn: balloon, inflate, billow]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Old Norse bylgja; akin to Old High German balg bag — more at belly Date: 1552 1. wave; especially a great wave or surge of water 2. a rolling mass (as of flame or smoke) that resembles a high wave • billowy adjective II. verb Date: 1585 intransitive verb 1. to rise or roll in waves or surges 2. to bulge or swell out (as through action of the wind) transitive verb to cause to billow

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a wave. 2 a soft upward-curving flow. 3 any large soft mass. --v.intr. move or build up in billows. Derivatives: billowy adj. Etymology: ON bylgja f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Billow Bil"low, n. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. b["o]lge, Sw. b["o]lja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.] 1. A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. Whom the winds waft where'er the billows roll. --Cowper. 2. A great wave or flood of anything. --Milton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Billow Bil"low, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Billowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Billowing.] To surge; to rise and roll in waves or surges; to undulate. ``The billowing snow.'' --Prior.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(billows, billowing, billowed) 1. When something made of cloth billows, it swells out and moves slowly in the wind. The curtains billowed in the breeze... Her pink dress billowed out around her. VERB: V, V out 2. When smoke or cloud billows, it moves slowly upwards or across the sky. Steam billowed out from under the bonnet. ...billowing clouds of cigarette smoke. VERB: V prep/adv, V-ing 3. A billow of smoke or dust is a large mass of it rising slowly into the air. ...smoke stacks belching billows of almost solid black smoke. = cloud N-COUNT: usu N of n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bil'-o (gal, "a great rolling wave"): Figuratively, of trouble, "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (Ps 42:7; compare Jon 2:3).

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Wave, surge. II. v. n. Surge, swell, roll, heave, roll in great surges.

Moby Thesaurus

bag, balloon, be poised, belly, belly out, bilge, bore, bouge, break, breakers, bug, bulge, chop, choppiness, chopping sea, comb, comber, crash, dash, dilate, dirty water, distend, eagre, ebb and flow, goggle, gravity wave, ground swell, heave, heavy sea, heavy swell, lift, lop, peak, pooch, pop, popple, pouch, pout, riffle, ripple, rise, rise and fall, roll, roller, rough water, round out, scend, sea, send, smash, surf, surge, swell, swell out, tidal bore, tidal wave, tide wave, toss, trough, tsunami, undulate, undulation, water wave, wave, wavelet, white horses, whitecaps