different between rabbits vs billy

English

Noun

rabbits

1. plural of rabbit

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?li

Etymology 1

• Of obscure origin. Perhaps from the name Billy, a diminutive of William, or a variant of bully (“companion, mate, comrade”). Compare Scots billie (“a comrade; companion”).
• (condom): From the E-Rotic song Willy, Use a Billy... Boy.

Noun

billy (plural billies)

1. A billy club.
2. A billy goat.
   • 1970 August, Valerius Geist, Mountain Goat Mysteries, Field & Stream, page 62,

     Then, during three days, I was amazed to see nannies with kids attack and chase off large billies.

   • 1992, Dwight R. Schuh, Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus), in Bowhunter's Encyclopedia, page 276,

     In fact, distinguishing between billies and nannies isn't necessarily a sure thing.
   1. A male goat; a ram.
3. (Tyneside) A good friend.
4. (slang) A condom.
5. A slubbing or roving machine.
   • 1840, The Citizen, page 347,

     […] at the time there existed in Dublin and its immediate neighbourhood, “forty-five manufacturers, having twenty-two billies, giving employment to 2885 work people, on whom depended for support 7386 individuals, manufacturing 29,312 pieces of cloth, of various qualities, valued at £336,380.”

Derived terms

• billy buttons
• billy cart
• billygoat
• hillbilly
• Silly Billy, silly billy

Etymology 2

Of uncertain origin, but probably extracted from Scots billypot (“a type of cooking pot”).

Noun

billy (plural billies)

1. (Australia, New Zealand) A tin with a swing handle used to boil tea over an open fire; a billycan; a billypot.

   Let's get the billy and cook some beans.

   • 1889, Ernest Giles, Australia Twice Traversed, 2004, page 239,

     We had been absent from civilisation, so long, that our tin billies, the only boiling utensils we had, got completely worn or burnt out at the bottoms, and as the boilings for glue and oil must still go on, what were we to do with billies with no bottoms?

   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, "Loyalty," [4]

     Mother prepared a splendid picnic. […] Rugs, food and the black billy for making tea, were packed into the old baby buggy and we trundled it straight down Simcoe Street.

   • 2011, Rod Moss, The Hard Light of Day: An Artist's Story of Friendships in Arrernte Country, unnumbered page,

     Over the fence, in a shallow gully 100 metres away, this guy and his wife were living on the dirt in the open weather with just a blanket, billies, a dog and a transistor radio. They didn't even have water.

2. (Australia, slang) A bong for smoking marijuana.

Translations

Derived terms

• billy boy
• billy bread
• billycan, billy-can
• billyful
• billy lid
• billy tea
• Christmas billy

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• Sceilig: Information Pack for Troops (p. 4)
• The Patrol goes to Camp (pp. 9, 11).