billethead

B3I1L1L1E1T1H4E1A1D2

noun

A carved wooden decoration, usually at the bow of a vessel, generally smaller than a figurehead

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Meanings

nounbillethead (plural billetheads)

plural billetheads · alternative billet head · alternative billet-head

  1. nauticalA carved wooden decoration, usually at the bow of a vessel, generally smaller than a figurehead

    we painted her on the outside, giving her open ports in her streak, and finishing off the nice work upon the stern, where sat Neptune in his car, holding his trident, drawn by sea-horses; and re-touched the gilding and coloring of the cornucopia which ornamented her billet-head.

    1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., “CHAPTER XXXV”, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC

Origin

From billet + head.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Blithedale
Cite this entry
APA

billethead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/billethead

MLA

“billethead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/billethead. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “billethead,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/billethead.

Source: billethead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.