Billion
a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 9 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 12 zeros.
a very large number:
I’ve told you so billions of times.
equal in number to a billion.
Contemporary Examples
Bipartisanship! Republicans and Democrats Both Want to Keep Allen Stanford’s Money Aram Roston March 6, 2012
Latin America’s Secret Success Story Shannon K. O’Neil July 15, 2013
The World Is Getting Better, Argues New Book, ‘Abundance’ Sam Harris February 20, 2012
Amazon Stock May Be Up, but the Company Still Doesn’t Make Any Money Daniel Gross October 24, 2013
Our Swiftly Melting Deficit, Or How the U.S. is Killing It Daniel Gross May 8, 2013
Historical Examples
State of the Union Addresses of George W. Bush George W. Bush
Invasion William Fitzgerald Jenkins
The American Empire Scott Nearing
Hidden Water Dane Coolidge
Woman’s Club Work and Programs Caroline French Benton
noun (pl) -lions, -lion
one thousand million: it is written as 1 000 000 000 or 109
(formerly, in Britain) one million million: it is written as 1 000 000 000 000 or 1012
(often pl) any exceptionally large number
determiner
(preceded by a or a cardinal number)
amounting to a billion: it seems like a billion years ago
(as pronoun): we have a billion here
n.
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- Billiton
an island in Indonesia, between Borneo and Sumatra. 1866 sq. mi. (4833 sq. km). Historical Examples Wealth of the World’s Waste Places and Oceania Jewett Castello Gilson noun an island of Indonesia, in the Java Sea between Borneo and Sumatra. Chief town: Tanjungpandan. Area: 4833 sq km (1866 sq miles) Also called Belitung
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an alloy used in coinage, consisting of gold or silver with a larger amount of base metal. an alloy of silver with copper or the like, used for coins of small denomination. any coin struck from such an alloy. Historical Examples The Works of John Knox, Vol. 1 (of 6) John Knox The History of […]
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a great wave or surge of the sea. any surging mass: billows of smoke. to rise or roll in or like billows; surge. to swell out, puff up, etc., as by the action of wind: flags billowing in the breeze. to make rise, surge, swell, or the like: A sudden wind billowed the tent alarmingly. […]