billabong
/ˈbɪləˌbɒŋ/
"billabong" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“billabong” is uncommon English (frequency #64,215 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #64,215
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An anabranch, backwater or oxbow lake that is temporarily cut off from the main river, especially one that is only filled with water during the rainy season and can sometimes dry up completely.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | billabong |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɪləˌbɒŋ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #64,215 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “billabong” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
billabong is uncommon English at frequency #64,215 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɪləˌbɒŋ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An anabranch, backwater or oxbow lake that is temporarily cut off from the main river, especially one that is only filled with water during the rainy season and can sometimes dry up completely.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for billabong in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Wiradjuri bilabang, likely a compound from Wiradjuri bila (“river”) and Wiradjuri bong or Wiradjuri bung (“dead”). The correct English form is billabong, spelled B-I-L-L-A-B-O-N-G.
Definition
- 1An anabranch, backwater or oxbow lake that is temporarily cut off from the main river, especially one that is only filled with water during the rainy season and can sometimes dry up completely.
Etymology
From Wiradjuri bilabang, likely a compound from Wiradjuri bila (“river”) and Wiradjuri bong or Wiradjuri bung (“dead”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “billabong”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-L-L-A-B-O-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɪləˌbɒŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.