billet 
the Kind's Indemnity were to be chosen by secret voting. 
X E 1). Billet de change. [F.] In law, a contract to 
furnish a bill of exchange ; a contract to pay the value of 
a bill of exchange already furnished. Bouvier. Every 
bullet has its billet, every bullet has , its destination as- 
554 
billowy 
field. Also called Wlety_ counter-billety. (b) billingsgate (bil 'ingz-gat), [Formerly also 
Strewed all over with billets. It is usual to 
arrange the billets alternately, each coming 
under a space, and the reverse. 
- - [< toll* (cf. its L. name, 
direct (a sold'ier) by a ticket or note where to 
lodge ; hence, to quarter or place in lodgings, 
as soldiers in private houses. 
Retire thee : KO where thou art billeted. 
Skak., Othello, ii. 3. 
If at home any peace were intended us, what meant 
those billeted Soldiers in all parts of the Kingdom, and 
the design of German Horse, to subdue us in our peace- 
full Houses? Milton, Eikonoklastes, ix. 
The rude, insolent, unpaid and therefore insubordinate 
soldiery were billeted in every house In the city. 
Motley, Dutch Republic, II. 289. -foill-hawk (bil'hak), n. 
II. intrans. To be quartered; lodge: spe- go called from a certain resemblance to a hawk's 
bill. 
cifieally applied to soldiers. 
He billets in my lodgings. Dr. Prideatix, To Abp. Ussher. bill-head (bil'hed), n. [< bill 3 + head.] A 
billet 2 (bil'et), n. [Also tollot, < ME. toilette, printed paper containing the jiame^address. 
Billinsgate, Jieelingsgate, < ME. liellinges sate, 
i. e., Billing's gate (cf. AS. Rilling, a patro- 
nymic name), the name of one of the ancient 
gates of the city of London, and of a fish- 
market near it, noted for the foulness of the 
language used there.] Profane or scurrilous 
language or abuse ; blackguardism. 
See garpike. 2. The skipper, Scorn beresox salt- Satire is nothing but ribaldry and billingsgate. 
nis, a synentognathous fish of the family Scorn- Addison, Papers. 
beresocidai or family Exoc&ttdtt. Also called pillion (bil'yon), n. [F., contracted from *to- 
million, < L. bi-, twice (second power), + F. mil- 
lion, million.] 1. In Great Britain, a million 
of millions : as many millions as there are units 
in a million (1,000,000,000,000). 2. In France 
and the United States, a thousand millions 
(1,000,000,000). [The word trillion was introduced into 
French in the sixteenth century, in the sense of a million 
to the second power, as a trillion was a million to the third 
power. At that time numbers were usually pointed off 
in periods of six figures. In the seventeenth century the 
custom prevailed of pointing off numbers in periods of 
three and this led to the change in the meaning of the 
word trillion in French. The words billion, trillion, etc., 
saury. 3. The spear-fish, Tetrapturm albidus, 
of the family Histiophoridas. It has a prolonged 
beak like a swordflsh, and occurs along the eastern cpast 
of the United States and in the Caribbean sea. 
4. One of the garfishes, Tylosurus longirostris, 
of the family Belonidis. See garfish, and cut 
under Belonidce. 
A form of saw-tooth, 
liulpt < OF bil'lete Tf toilette also tollot, a block and business of a person or firm, etc., with did not apparently come into use in English until a later 
bylet, <. U* . OUiew, *. ' < e > j " " ' , , . J^TL ft( ,, . ollr ,t, ; writing, date, for Locke ("Essay on the Human Understanding, 
n 
an account in writing, 
x f [< WH2 + hook.] A 
form of small hatchet curved inward 
at the point of the cutting edge, used 
for pruning trees, hedges, and the 
like, and by sappers and miners to cut 
pickets, rods, and withes for gabions, 
fascines, hurdles, saprollers, etc. 
He slept on the ground, or on the hard floor, with a W- l,illi ar (l n. See billiards, 
let of wood for his pillow. Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., n. B. {|J{g!|i: ball (bil 'yard-bal), n. A 
2. In her., a bearing in the form of a small small roun( j i vory ball used in play- 
rectangle, usually set with the long sides verti- j billiards, 
cal. The number, position, and tincture must always be Wlflard-cloth (bil'vard-kloth), . A 
i *%, ; n ., t .... t ;, ..i aVutiiro M***XMI* ** vw** \ j ., ti 
orTog of wood, diminutives of tolle, < ML. billus, space below for 
a log, a stock of a tree ; origin unknown. Cf. bill-hook (bil'huk), n. 
billiards.] 1. A small stick of wood ; especial- 
ly, a stick of wood cut for fuel. A billet of fire- 
wood must, by a statute of Elizabeth, measure 3 feet 4 
inches in length. Bundles of billets are called billet-wood. 
What shall these billets do? be pil'd in my wood-yard? 
Beau, and Fl., King and No King, v. 3. 
specified : thus, the illustration shows 
three billets azure in chief. Billets 
should always be represented fiat, with- 
out shadow or relief. See bricks, 4. 
3. In arch. : (a) An ornament 
much used in early medieval 
work, consisting of an imitation 
of a wooden billet, or a small 
section of a rod, of which a se- 
ries are placed at regular inter- 
vals in or upon a molding, usu- 
L 
Bill-hook. 
Three Billets azure 
in chief. 
green woolen cloth, piece-dyed, 
from 72 to 81 inches wide, manufactured to 
cover billiard-tables. 
billiard-cue (bil'yard-ku), n. The tapering 
stick with which "billiard-players strike the 
balls. 
billiardist (bil'yar-dist), n. [< billiard-s + -ist.] 
One skilled in the game of billiards ; a profes- 
sional billiard-player. 
date, for Locke ("Essay on the Human Understanding," 
ii. 16, 6, 1690) speaks of the use of trillion as a novelty. 
The English meaning of the word is thus the original and 
most systematic. The word billion is not used in the 
French of eyery-day life, one thousand millions being 
called a milliard.] 
billionaire (.bil'yon-ar), n. [< billion + -aire, 
as in millionaire.] " One who possesses property 
worth a billion reckoned in standard coin of 
the country. [Bare.] 
One would like to give a party now and then, if one 
could be a billionaire. 0. W. Holmes, Elsie Vernier, vii. 
billman (bil'man), n.; pi. tollmen (-men). [< toW 
+ man.] 1. A soldier or civic guardsman of 
former times armed with a bill. 
In rushed his bill-men. Mir. for Mags., p. 427. 
A biUnum of the guard. Saville, tr. of Tacitus, i. 24. 
When the bill-men saw that the fire was overaw'd, and 
could not doe the deed [burn the martyr], one of them 
steps to him, and stabs him with a sword. 
Milton, Prelatical Episcopacy. 
2. A laborer who uses a bill for cutting. 
[Rare.] 
billiard-marker (bil'yard-mar''ker), n. 1. One billon (bil'on), n. [F., copper coin, base coin, 
ally a concave molding. See cut under billet- w o attends on players at billiards and records a mint for such coin (= Pr. billo = Sp. vellon = 
molding, (b) A checker. 4. A short strap t ne progress of the game. 2. An apparatus 
used for connecting various straps and portions f or registering the points and games scored at 
of a harness. 5. A pocket or loop into which Billiards. 
Pg. bilhao = It. biglione; ML. billio(n-), bil- 
lon), orig. a 'mass' of metal, < bille, a log: see 
billet*. Ullot. In older E. form (by confusion) 
the end of a strap is inserted after passing billiards (bil'yar&z), n - [Formerly also spelled bullion: seebullion 2 .] 1. Gold or silver alloyed 
bloom ; a short billiard, billyar'ds (-Hi-, -lly-, to indicate the f or- 
ire section, and mer pronunciation of F. -11-), billards, etc. ; < F. 
*'T\I!O " A Killof 7 "77 J l~Il >~r.r1r. TIT 1 1 \ m.A lnTn\a -Frwmml^r r. V^ll_ 
through a buckle. 6. A small bloom; a short 
bar of iron or steel, with a square i 
of smaller size than an ordinary "pile." A billet UHard, billiards, billiard-table, formerly a bil- 
is rolled of the size and weight required for the finished ii ar( J-cue, orig. a stick with a curved end,< bille, 
article which is to be produced from it. Billet and zig- , . ' ? vfmtl(T o+ock of a tree (see 7"'- 
zag, a frequent molding in medieval architecture, consist- a log of wood, a young StOCK^ OI a tree ^see p 
ingof atoms ornamented by a]' *- 
billet, a moderate-sized billet, f< 
in circumference. Single billet 
ly, bylaw, 7$ inches in circumference. i WU-UO.DU uxxicu, 
a large billet, formerly, by law, 14 inches in circumfer 
ence. 
bill 3 .] A game played by two or more persons, 
on a rectangular table of special construction 
with copper in large proportions, so as to make 
a base metal. 
In many continental countries the smaller currency has 
been made of a very low alloy of silver and copper, called 
billon. . . . According to an analysis performed at the 
Owen's College chemical laboratory, one part of silver and 
three of copper. Billon is still being coined in Austria. 
Jevons, Money and Mech. of Exchange, p. 125. 
2. Coin struck from an alloy over half copper. 
[F., dim. of tolle : see billeft.] 
billet 3 (bil'et), n. [Cf. billard and bil.] A ( see billiard-table), with ivory balls, which the bm , bir6) ;, r Early mo d. E. also bellow; 
1 ,,1 'O II^.'U ~ ..,-,,, yi-P 4-1-i n simil _-R t?Vl HO Tin /HO llXT _1 . n "U-n ,..,.., i ,,. J-4-P ,. I I , .!.- /1O11 CO "trt OT TT If ft WiiAV \.__'7_^l-,.,' T.I 
players, by means of cues, cause to strike 
against each Other. Formerly in the United States 
the game was played with four balls on a table having six 
pockets, the players scoring both for caroms and for driv- 
ing the balls into the pockets. (See carom.) This is nearly 
the present English game. Since, however, expert players 
could continue an inning at the game thus played almost 
without limit, the pockets were dispensed with and count- 
ing was made to depend entirely upon caroms. Later, pro- 
liich only three balls are used, and this was mod- 
champions' game, in which a line, called a balk- 
local English name of the coal-fish, especially 
when one year old. 
billet-cable (bil'et-ka"bl), n. [< biltetf + cable.] 
A molding occurring in early medieval archi- 
tecture, consisting of a torus or cable orna- 
mented with billets. 
billet-doux (bil-e-do'), n.; pi. billets-doux. [F. ; 
lit., sweet letter: billet, see billeft, n. ; dowx, < L. 
dulcis, sweet.] A love-note or short love-letter. 
Valentine's Day kept courting pretty May, who sate next 
him, slipping amorous billets-doux under the table. 
Lamb, New Year's Coming of Age. 
billeted (bil-e-ta'), a. [F. billete, -ee, < toilette: 
see billet^.] In her., same as billety. 
billet-head (bil'et-hed), n. [< billef + head.] 
1 . Nant. : (a) A cylindrical piece of timber fixed 
in the bow or stern of a whaling-boat, round the Cus hi n before touching any otner can. line singular 
which the line is run out when the whale darts form, billiard, is occasionally used, and is always employed 
off after being harpooned. Also called bollard, 
(b) Same as scroll-head. 2. A loggerhead. 
billeting-roll (bil'et-ing-rol), n. [< billeting 
(< billefi, a stick, + -ingl) + roll.] A set of 
rollers having flattening and edging grooves, billiard-table (bil yard- 
used in rolling iron into merchantable bars. 
billet-master (bil'et-mas"ter), n. One whose 
duty is to issue billets to soldiers. 
billet-molding (bil'et-moFding), n 
any molding ornamented 
with billets. 
billets-doux, . 
of billet-doux. 
billety (bil'e-ti), a. [See 
billetee.] la her.: (a) Di- 
vided into billets: same 
prob. < Icel. bylgja (through an unrecorded 
ME. *bylge) = Sw. bo'lja = Dan. bolge, a billow, 
= OD. bolglie, bulghe = LG. bulge = OHG. 
*bulga, MHG. G. bulge, a billow, prob. related 
to OHG. bidgd, MHG. G. bitlge, a bag ; ult. < 
AS. (etc.) belgan, swell, swell up, whence also 
belloics, belly, etc. Cf. bulge.] A great wave 
fessional players adopted what is known as the French O r surge of the sea, occasioned usually by a 
pla 
game, in whi 
ifledtothec/._ ^ -, _ 
line, is drawn crossing each corner of the table diagonally, 
within which two counts only can be made. Experts now 
play also cuvhion-caroms, in which the cue-ball must touch 
the cushion before hitting the second object-ball, or hit the 
second ball again on a return from the cushion ; the balk- 
line game, which is the same as the champions' game, but 
with balk-lines 14 inches from the cushion all round the 
table ; and the bank-game, in which the cue-hall must hit 
the cushion before touching any other ball. [The singular 
In arch., 
violent wind : much used in figurative applica- 
tions, and often, especially in the plural, as 
merely equivalent to wave : as, the billows of 
sorrow rolled over him. 
You stand upon the rivage and behold 
A city on the inconstant billows dancing. 
SA<ifc.,Hen. V.,iii. (cho.). 
Strongly it bears us along, in swelling and limitless bil- 
lows. Coleridge, tr. of Schiller, Homeric Hexameter. 
= Svn. See wave. 
billow (bil'6), v. [< billow, .] I. intrans. To 
swell ; rise and roll in large waves or surges. 
The black-browed Marseillese . . . do billow on towards 
the Tuileries, where their errand is. 
Carlyle, French Rev., II. iv. 7. 
II. trans. To raise in waves or billows. 
Young. 
[Pp. of billow, f.] 
Plural -r' 
as barrypaty : said of the 
in composition. 
With aching heart, and discontented looks, 
Returns at noon to billiard or to books. 
Cmvper, Retirement.] 
?**.i*Mu.v.-vw.t W / --- -- table on 
which the game of billiards is played, it is made 
of mahogany or other hard wood, of strong and heavy 
construction, and has a raised cushioned ledge all round, , V M/-J\ 
the area thus formed consisting of a bed of slate or marble DlllOWed (Dllou), p. (I. 
covered with fine green cloth. The size varies, the smallest Swelled like a billow. 
common size being 10 by 5 feet, and the largest 12 by 6 feet. 
Some tables are provided with six pockets, one at each cor- 
ner and one in the middle of each of the long sides ; others 
have four pockets : but billiard-tables are now, except in 
Kiiiiland, commonly made without pockets. 
billicock, n. See billycock. 
billing (bil'ing), n. [Ppr. of fciH 1 , i:] A caress- 
Wi *""& V , O/l ,. L1 ,,T 7 ! -,. >t C IlrtU K1I11I1J3CO VI 
ing after the fashion of doves ; love-making : g,. eat d ome bulging fro 
as, "your billings and cooings," Leigh Hunt. 
,.-'6-i), ff. [<WBow + -#lJ Swell- 
ing or swelled into large waves; full ot bil- 
lows or surges ; having an appearance or effect 
as of billows: as, "the tollowie ocean," Chap- 
man, Odyssey, v.; billowy flames. 
We had glimpses of the billowy Campagna, with the 
''-"~ ' its rim. 
Lou-ell, Fireside Travels, p. 205. 
