Definition of "billingsgate" [bil•lings•gate]

• Foul, abusive language. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "One must have read much in Luther, one should have read all of Luther, and his "billingsgate" will assume a different meaning."
• "They talk forever and forever, and that is the kind of billingsgate they use."
• "We could argue that the commodification of violence and abuse is a problem plaguing society as a whole, and is not limited to comics alone — heaven knows all you need to do is to turn on talk radio or go to Capitol Hill yesterday to hear billingsgate that used to be beyond the pale."