bil‧lion /ˈbɪljən/
number (
plural billion or billions)
[
Date: 1600-1700;
Language: French;
Origin: bi- + -illion (as in million)]
1. the number 1,000,000,000:
The final cost could be as much as one billion dollars.two/three/four etc billion 3.5 billion years ago Overseas debt is a staggering £16 billion.billions of pounds/dollars etc Airlines have lost billions of dollars.2. an extremely large number of things or people
a billion A billion stars shone in the night sky.billions of something There are billions of things I want to say.3. British English old use the number 1,000,000,000,000
—billionth adjective—billionth noun [countable] [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲