billow
verbEtymology From Middle English *bilwe, borrowed from Old Norse bylgja, from Proto-Germanic *bulgijō. Cognates include Danish bølge (“wave”); Norwegian Bokmål bølge (“wave”), Norwegian Nynorsk bylgje (“wave”); Swedish bölja (“wave”); German Low German Bulge, Bulg, Bülg (“billow, wave”); German Bulge (“billow, wave”). Compare bellow, bawl.
1
To surge or roll in billows.
- During the preceding afternoon a heavy North Pacific fog had blown in … Scudding eastward from the ocean, it had crept up and over the redwood-studded crests of the Coast Range mountains, […], billowing steadily eastward, it had rolled up the western slopes of the Siskiyou Range, […]1920, Peter B. Kyne, chapter 2, in The Understanding Heart:
- The nuns' veils billowed and flapped behind the snaky line of girls as if the sisters were shooing the serpent from the Garden of Eden.1942, Emily Carr, “Chain Gang”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:
2 more examples
- The black clouds of mercury vapour constantly billowing from the hatter's workshops and out into the streets must have been a horrifying sight.2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, →ISBN, page 59:
- A section of the Koryo Hotel, one of the oldest and best known hotels in Pyongyang, caught fire on Thursday, sources who witnessed the fire in the North Korean capital told Reuters. Images obtained by Reuters showed plumes of black smoke billowing from the bridge connecting the two 43-storey towers of the 143-metre (469-feet) structure, which lies a short distance from Pyongyang's bustling train station and the Taedong river that cuts through the city.2015 June 12, James Pearson, “Popular Pyongyang tourist spot the Koryo Hotel catches fire”, in Andrew Hay, Paul Tait, editors, Reuters, sourced from SEOUL (Reuters), archived from the original on 29 Jul 2024, World:
2
To swell out or bulge.
- Her new green flowered-muslin dress spread its twelve yards of billowing material over her hoops and exactly matched the flat-heeled green morocco slippers her father had recently brought her from Atlanta.1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter I, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC:
- She had changed her auburn hair. Instead of wearing it in a billowing puff over her brow, she had gathered it into a ponytail, secured with a length of yellow yarn.1983, Peter De Vries, chapter 9, in Slouching Towards Kalamazoo, page 125:
- Derived terms
- billowingly, embillow