billy-oh

alternative billio · alternative billy-o · alternative billyo

1. datedslanguncountableThe greatest extent or degree of something; used in comparisons to indicate a superlative.

   I bashed my thumb with a hammer, and it hurts like billy-oh.

   3 more examples

   "For the wooden fence leading up to the bridge had caught fire, and it was burning like billy oh."

   1901, Edith Nesbit, The Wouldbegoods, T. Fisher Unwin

   "'You know—if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.'"

   1952, C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, HarperTrophy

   "'Our old saw's as blunt as billy-oh! You couldn't cut butter with it!'"

   1995, Marion Houldsworth, The Morning Side of the Hill, Boolarong Press