billeted; billeting; billets
1
: to assign lodging to (someone, such as a soldier) by or as if by a billet
2
: to serve with a billet
billet a householder
1
a
: a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood)
b
obsolete
: cudgel
2
a
: a bar of metal
b
: a piece of semifinished iron or steel nearly square in section made by rolling an ingot or bloom
c
: a section of nonferrous metal ingot hot-worked by forging, rolling, or extrusion
d
: a nonferrous casting suitable for rolling or extrusion
Examples of billet in a Sentence
Noun (1)
found a billet at one of the leading brokerage houses in New York
Verb
every colonial household was expected to billet a British soldier
Noun (2)
a stack of gold billets in the vault
Recent Examples on the Web
Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 14 July 2025
But to have that front end dialed in just as perfectly, there's a pair of custom triple clamps CNC-machined out of billet aluminum by S&P.
—New Atlas, 2 July 2025
Joan Didion, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
The house has ample room for billeting family, including the couple’s two other children and four grandchildren, come holidays and summer vacations.
—New York Times, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for billet
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Noun
The billets will be marketed under the RevivAL brand name, a nod to the fact the aluminum came from 250 recyclers.
—Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 14 July 2025
But to have that front end dialed in just as perfectly, there's a pair of custom triple clamps CNC-machined out of billet aluminum by S&P.
—New Atlas, 2 July 2025
Verb
In Durham my father was billeted at Duke, and Mother and my brother and I lived in one room in a Baptist preacher’s house, with kitchen privileges.
—Joan Didion, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
The house has ample room for billeting family, including the couple’s two other children and four grandchildren, come holidays and summer vacations.
—New York Times, 14 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for billet
Cite this Entry
“Billet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/billet. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
billet
1 of 3 noun
bil·let
ˈbil-ət 
1
: an official order that a soldier be put up in a private home
2
: quarters assigned by or as if by a billet
3
billet
2 of 3 verb
: to assign lodging to : quarter
billet
3 of 3 noun1
: a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood)
2
: a bar of metal
especially
: one of iron or steel
Etymology
Noun
Middle English bylet "brief note," from early French billette, literally, "little document," derived from Latin billa "document"
Noun
Middle English bylet "chunk of wood," from early French billete, literally, "little log"; of Celtic origin
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