as in protrudes
to extend outward beyond a usual point
the curtains in the open windows billowed in the summer wind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of billows
Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026
Delivery drivers ride motorcycles along a road as smoke billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday.
—Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 5 Mar. 2026
Rol has so far counted 148 vehicles burned by the fire, which produced billows of black smoke visible from across metro Denver.
—Elliott Wenzler, Denver Post, 27 Feb. 2026
Three seconds later, the Honda crashes into a parked car with such force its tires fly off the street, the pile of cars lurches forward several feet and snow billows.
—Claire Galofaro, Fortune, 9 Jan. 2026
By night, fires dot the serene landscape and smoke billows from chimneys as guests sip cocktails and cocoa or take a sleigh ride over powdery, sparkling snow.
—Wendy O'Dea, Robb Report, 28 Dec. 2025
Prayer mats lie next to heavy artillery; smoke billows from parked whips; backstabbers get cut first.
—Pitchfork, 10 Dec. 2025
One officer reaches into the car to open the driver's door and pull him out, but a ball of flames quickly flares up as smoke billows from the car.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
Passersby stared as billows of smoke rose into the air above the White House as part of the home shared by the United States president and his family crumbled to the ground.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Emily Lorsch, NBC news, 2 Mar. 2026
In Kelmscott House—Morris’s own Georgian mansion in Hammersmith, London—a 17th-century Iranian carpet billows from the ceiling in the dining room.
—Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 10 Feb. 2026
Thick black smoke billows from a South El Monte recycling plant as Los Angeles County Fire Department crews are attempting to control the flames consuming the large building complex.
—Julie Sharp, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Smoke billows from the Lyondell Basell Houston refinery in Texas in 2024.
—Matthew Robinson, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
It’s presented in a treasure chest with smoke protruding as the chest opens, slowly displaying the cocktail itself as the smoke billows into the patron’s face, preparing their nostrils for the smokey aroma ahead.
—Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Noun
Father and son, both members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, stare out at a sea of green grass and buffalo berry bushes as a herd of 30 or so bison munch patches of grass, flick their tails at flies, and flop onto the ground, creating brief billows of dust.
—Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 5 Mar. 2026
Delivery drivers ride motorcycles along a road as smoke billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday.
—Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 5 Mar. 2026
Rol has so far counted 148 vehicles burned by the fire, which produced billows of black smoke visible from across metro Denver.
—Elliott Wenzler, Denver Post, 27 Feb. 2026
Three seconds later, the Honda crashes into a parked car with such force its tires fly off the street, the pile of cars lurches forward several feet and snow billows.
—Claire Galofaro, Fortune, 9 Jan. 2026
By night, fires dot the serene landscape and smoke billows from chimneys as guests sip cocktails and cocoa or take a sleigh ride over powdery, sparkling snow.
—Wendy O'Dea, Robb Report, 28 Dec. 2025
Prayer mats lie next to heavy artillery; smoke billows from parked whips; backstabbers get cut first.
—Pitchfork, 10 Dec. 2025
One officer reaches into the car to open the driver's door and pull him out, but a ball of flames quickly flares up as smoke billows from the car.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025
Passersby stared as billows of smoke rose into the air above the White House as part of the home shared by the United States president and his family crumbled to the ground.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Verb
Smoke billows Monday after an explosion from the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran, along the strait of Hormuz.
—Emily Lorsch, NBC news, 2 Mar. 2026
In Kelmscott House—Morris’s own Georgian mansion in Hammersmith, London—a 17th-century Iranian carpet billows from the ceiling in the dining room.
—Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 10 Feb. 2026
Thick black smoke billows from a South El Monte recycling plant as Los Angeles County Fire Department crews are attempting to control the flames consuming the large building complex.
—Julie Sharp, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Smoke billows from the Lyondell Basell Houston refinery in Texas in 2024.
—Matthew Robinson, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
It’s presented in a treasure chest with smoke protruding as the chest opens, slowly displaying the cocktail itself as the smoke billows into the patron’s face, preparing their nostrils for the smokey aroma ahead.
—Andrew Watman, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for billows
Noun
-
Israel retaliated with large waves of airstrikes and Israeli troops captured several new posts in southern Lebanon.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Mar. 2026
-
The standalone structure was perched right on the edge of the pool and just a few dozen feet from the crashing waves.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The other two types are subserosal (which protrudes on the outside of the uterus) and intramural (which grow within the muscle layer).—
Beth Krietsch,
SELF,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Baleen is a specialized type of bone that protrudes from the jaws like teeth and is used to filter small critters from the ocean water to feed.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Outside those emotional swells, the family was relieved to be together, and free of the dread that had hung over them in New York.—
Caitlin Dickerson,
The Atlantic,
3 Mar. 2026
-
From familiar orchestral swells to ritualized envelope openings, Hollywood’s annual night at the Dolby is uniquely suited for nocturnal drifting.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Williams pokes a single into the right field gap for an RBI.—
Caleb Yum,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Mar. 2026
-
One TikTok video with over 949,000 likes pokes fun at Kempczinski's review by using similar wording to judge other McDonald's items.—
Ramon Padilla,
USA Today,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a brain aneurysm is a weakened area in an artery that bulges outward and fills with blood.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Billows.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/billows. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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