billy club

noun

Synonyms of billy clubnext
: a heavy usually wooden club
specifically : a police officer's club

Synonyms of billy club

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of billy club in a Sentence

rapping the shoes of the sleeping vagrant with his billy club, the officer told him to move on
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Mayhem erupted when the strikers were attacked with tear gas and billy clubs. — Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor, 3 June 2025 After about a minute and half, Mauldin said, police began to attack the demonstrators with billy clubs. — Maya Miller, ProPublica, 15 May 2026 Law enforcement attacked 600 of the protesters with billy clubs and tear gas. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 10 Mar. 2025 Both items, along with a billy club, methamphetamine pipes, and rubber tubing, were found during a search of his RV, according to police. — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 8 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for billy club

Word History

Etymology

billy entry 2

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of billy club was in 1885

Rhymes for billy club

See All Rhymes for billy club

Browse Nearby Words

billyboy
billy club
billycock
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Billy club.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billy%20club. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

billy club

noun
: a heavy wooden club
especially : nightstick
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All