/bil"ee/ , n. , pl. billies .
1. Also called billy club . a police officer's club or baton.
2. a heavy wooden stick used as a weapon; cudgel.
3. Scot. Dial. comrade.
4. Also called billycan /bil"ee kan'/ . Australian. any container in which water may be carried and boiled over a campfire, ranging from a makeshift tin can to a special earthenware kettle; any pot or kettle in which tea is boiled over a campfire.
5. Textiles. (in Great Britain) a roving machine.
[ perh. all independently derived generic uses of BILLY (male name); for Australian sense cf. Scots dial. billy-pot cooking pot ]