billow \BIL-oh\, verb:
1. To rise or roll in or like a great wave; surge.
2. To swell out, puff up, etc., as by the action of wind.
3. To make rise, surge, swell.
noun:
1. A great wave or surge of the sea.
2. Any surging mass.
The cottonwool clouds billow out like puffs of smoke, and the raindrops are quite forceful.
-- Chi-mun Sŏ, The Rainy Spell and other Korean Stories
When Brien reached the common room and allowed her skirts to billow normally again, she was horrified to find that they filled almost a quarter of the modest room.
-- Betina Krahn, Not Quite Married
Billow is from Old Norse bylgja meaning "a wave" or "to swell." It has the same origin as the word belly.
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