billy-blindn.
/ˈbɪlɪblʌɪnd/, U.S. /ˈbɪliˌblaɪnd/, Scottish English /ˈbɪlɪblʌind/ Scottish.
1. In ballads, the name of a benevolent household demon or familiar spirit. (See Child Eng. & Sc. Ballads I. 67, Grimm Teut. Myth. (Eng. ed.) II. 473.)
ΚΠ
a1802 Willie's Ladye xiv, in W. Scott Minstr. Then out and spak the Billy Blind, He spak aye in a gude time.
a1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads II. 130 (Jam.) Up it starts the Billy Blin, And stood at her bed feet.
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2. The game of ‘Blind-man's-buff’; = belly-blind n.
Derivatives
billyblinder n. he who blindfolds the chief actor in the game of ‘Blind-man's-buff’; figurative a hoodwinker.
ΚΠ
1822 J. Hogg Three Perils of Man III. 387 Ay weel I wat that's little short of a billyblinder.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.a1802