Search
Select the dictionary language
to billow
01
to expand in a blowing or puffing motion as if by the action of wind or some force within
Grammatical Information
Composition
Simple
Movement verb
Regular
Present tense
billow
3rd person singular
billows
Present participle
billowing
Past simple
billowed
Past participle
billowed
Examples
Black smoke billowed from the chimney of the burning building.
02
to swell out by internal pressure, as with air or gas
Examples
The life jacket billowed up as the sailor pulled the inflation cord.
03
to rise, roll, or surge like large ocean waves
Intransitive
Examples
The waves billowed toward the shore.
04
to move or push forward with great difficulty, often in a mass
Intransitive
Examples
The crowd billowed through the narrow alley.
Billow
01
a large rolling wave, especially at sea
Grammatical Information
Animacy status
Inanimate
Composition
Simple
Countable
Plural form
billows
Examples
The ship rose and fell with the billows.
Lexical Tree
billowing
billow
