Standard Lemma guide

billycan

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A lightweight pot for cooking or boiling water, used in camping.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, South-Africa, UK

Examples

  • 2010, Nontsomi Langa, A Xhosa Story: Mbengu-Sonyanganzu, in Harold Scheub, The Uncoiling Python: South African Storytellers and Resistance, page 162, When they reached the river, Nqunuse's daughter's billycan began to leak.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: billypot, billy tin, billy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From billy + can.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: gamelle — lightweight pot
  • Italian: gamella — lightweight pot
  • Australian Kriol: biliken — lightweight pot
  • Māori: kēna — lightweight pot
  • Woiwurrung: tarnuk — lightweight pot
  • Xhosa: ibhekile — lightweight pot