puffing Billy

noun

A steam locomotive engine.

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Meanings

noun
  1. obsoleteslangA steam locomotive engine.

    The temple, halfway up the Matheran hills, was approached by a 'puffing billy' train on a zigzag railway from Neral, two miles from Bombay.

    1969, Allen V. Ross, Vice in Bombay, London: Tallis Press, page 148
Cite this entry
APA

puffing Billy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puffing%20Billy

MLA

“puffing Billy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puffing%20Billy. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “puffing Billy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/puffing%20Billy.

Source: puffing Billy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.