billy-oh

• billio, billy-o, billyo

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billy-oh (uncountable)

1. (slang, dated, mostly in the phrase 'like billy-oh') The greatest extent or degree of something; used in comparisons to indicate a superlative.

   I bashed my thumb with a hammer, and it hurts like billy-oh.

   • 1901, Edith Nesbit, The Wouldbegoods, T. Fisher Unwin:

     "For the wooden fence leading up to the bridge had caught fire, and it was burning like billy oh."

   • 1952, C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, HarperTrophy:

     "'You know—if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.'"

   • 1995, Marion Houldsworth, The Morning Side of the Hill, Boolarong Press:

     "'Our old saw's as blunt as billy-oh! You couldn't cut butter with it!'"