Webster's English Dictionary

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billet

1. bil.let \'bil-*t\ n [ME bylet, fr. MF billette, dim. of bulle document, 
   fr. ML Xbulla archaic  1: a brief letter : NOTE  2a: an official order 
   directing that a member of a military force be provid ed with board and 
   lodging (as in a private home) 2b: quarters assigned by or as if by a 
   billet  3: BERTH, POSITION {a soft ~} 
2. billet vt 1: to assign lodging to (as soldiers) by a billet : QUARTER  
   2: to serve with a billet {~ a householder}  : to have quarters 
3. billet n [ME bylet, fr. MF billete, dim. of bille log, of Celt origin;] 
   akin to OIr bile sacred tree 1a: a chunky piece of wood (as for firewood) : 
   BOLT  obs  1b: CUDGEL  2a: a bar of metal  2b: a piece of semifinished iron 
   or steel nearly square in section made by  rolling an ingot or bloom 2c: a 
   section of nonferrous metal ingot hot-worked by forging, rolling, or  
   extrusion : a nonferrous casting suitable for rolling or extrusion 3: an 
   ornament in Norman moldings that resembles a billet of wood