Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Plural of billet-doux.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of billet-doux.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word billets-doux.

Examples

  • The rim of the wheel is reserved for engraving short billets-doux .

    Time for Something Special Michael Clerizo 2011

  • That's not exactly news, and just because he left a trail of e-mails that would make a romance novel writer cringe doesn't make him a complete embarrassment; billets-doux don't hold up well under klieg lights.

    Judgment Day for Mark Sanford 2009

  • Next to the billets-doux is a hillock of Starbucks gift cards from performers who are apparently under the impression that Mr. Saks can be bought for beans.

    In Praise of Matchmakers Joanne Kaufman 2011

  • In the 1930s, E.H. Crump, boss of the Memphis political machine, hired a man to woo my grandmother and then used the ensuing billets-doux to blackmail my grandfather, who was mayor.

    Mayhill Fowler: Bill Clinton's Mistress: The Story That Never Was 2010

  • How many pretty gentlemen have been unmercifully jilted by pert hussies, after having curtseyed to them at half a dozen operas; nay, permitted themselves to be led out twice; yet, after these encouragements, which amount very near to an engagement, have refused their billets-doux, and perhaps married other men, under their noses.

    Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Lady Lisa Robertson Lemon Hound 2008

  • How many pretty gentlemen have been unmercifully jilted by pert hussies, after having curtseyed to them at half a dozen operas; nay, permitted themselves to be led out twice; yet, after these encouragements, which amount very near to an engagement, have refused their billets-doux, and perhaps married other men, under their noses.

    Archive 2008-08-01 Lemon Hound 2008

  • She had received the usual round of billets-doux from her admirers that morning, men whose habit was to send letters out to all and sundry, hoping that one day the strategy would succeed in springing a mate.

    The Scandal of the Season Sophie Gee 2007

  • But — he had not caused the wretchedness of any woman; he gambled without losing; his luck was not notorious; he was far too upright to deceive or mislead any one, no matter who, even a wanton; never did he leave his billets-doux lying about, and he possessed no coffer or desk for love-letters which his friends were at liberty to read while he tied his cravat or trimmed his beard.

    A Marriage Contract 2007

  • If you have left any papers about, any bills, any billets-doux, I make no doubt the ladies have read every single one of them, according to the amiable habits of their sex.

    The Newcomes 2006

  • If the Cattarina wrote him billets-doux, I fear Aunt Bernstein would have bade him accept the invitations: but the lad had brought with him from his colonial home a stock of modesty which he still wore along with the honest homespun linen.

    The Virginians 2006

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • n., pl. bil·lets-doux (bĭl'�?-dūz').

    A love letter.

    This term was popularly used during Victorian and Edwardian times in English speaking countries as well as in France.

    January 22, 2008

  • See also billet-doux. But shouldn't the singular be billet-douce, or something?

    January 22, 2008