Definition of BILLOW

billow

Plural: billows

Noun

  • a large sea wave
  • A large wave, swell, surge, or undulating mass of something, such as water, smoke, fabric or sound

Verb

Verb Forms: billowed, billowing, billows

  • To swell out or surge, like smoke or fabric.
  • rise up as if in waves
    • "smoke billowed up into the sky"
  • move with great difficulty
    • "The soldiers billowed across the muddy riverbed"
  • rise and move, as in waves or billows
  • become inflated
  • To surge or roll in billows.
  • To swell out or bulge.

Examples

  • Her score began to BILLOW after she played a seven-letter word on a triple word score.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English *bilowe, *bilewe, *bilwe, *bilȝe, borrowed from Old Norse bylgja, from Proto-Germanic *bulgijō. Cognates include Danish bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Bokmål bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Nynorsk bylgje (“wave”), German Low German Bulge, Bulg, Bülg (“billow, wave”), German Bulge (“billow, wave”).

Scrabble Score: 11

billow: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
billow: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
billow: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

billow: valid Words With Friends Word