1-Stop Dictionary Reference

Billow

ahd-5

noun. A large wave or swell of water.

noun. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound.

intransitive verb. To surge or roll in billows.

intransitive verb. To swell out or bulge.

intransitive verb. To cause to billow.

The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

To swell; rise and roll in large waves or surges.

To raise in waves or billows.

noun. A great wave or surge of the sea, occasioned usually by a violent wind: much used in figurative applications, and often, especially in the plural, as merely equivalent to wave: as, the billows of sorrow rolled over him.

noun. Synonyms See wave.

the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

noun. A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind.

noun. A great wave or flood of anything.

intransitive verb. To surge; to rise and roll in waves or surges; to undulate.

Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

noun. A large wave, swell, surge, or undulating mass of something, such as water, smoke, fabric or sound

verb. To surge or roll in billows

verb. To swell out or bulge

WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

noun. a large sea wave

verb. become inflated

verb. move with great difficulty

verb. rise and move, as in waves or billows

verb. rise up as if in waves

Word Usage

"If ever it comes into my life again (a friend or family with breast cancer) a billow is the ideal gift."

cross-reference

atmospheric billow

Form

billowed billowing

Hypernym

Words that are more generic or abstract

blow up go inflate locomote move

Rhyme

Words with the same terminal sound

Amarillo Camarillo Hermosillo Murillo armadillo

Same Context

Words that are found in similar contexts

breaker cascade cataract drift expanse

Synonym

Words with the same meaning

bag balloon be poised belly belly out

verb-form

billowed billowes billowing billows