Word definition: bill

Etimology


From Middle English bille, from Anglo-Norman bille, from Old French bulle, from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal", "sealed document”). Compare bull.

noun


bill (plural bills)

A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)

A document, originally sealed; a formal statement or official memorandum. (Now obsolete except with certain qualifying words; bill of health, bill of sale etc.)

A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.

(obsolete, law) A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.

(US, Canada) A piece of paper money; a banknote.

(slang, UK) One hundred pounds sterling.

A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.

A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods

A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document; a bill of exchange. In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note.

A set of items presented together.

Examples


Synonym: measure

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister, I beg to introduce a bill entitled […]

Why, I'll exhibit a bill in the parliament for the putting down of men.

David Cameron insists that his latest communications data bill is “vital to counter terrorism”. Yet terror is mayhem. It is no threat to freedom. That threat is from counter-terror, from ministers capitulating to securocrats.

... the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality ...

He gave the change for a three dollar bill. Upon examination, the bill proved to be counterfeit.

[…] So I wropped 'em up in a five dollar bill and tied 'em up and sent 'em, and they ain't back yet.”

I ran into the Devil, babe, he loaned me 20 bills.

There was no excuse, simply no excuse for not making four or five bills a week. A little initiative, that's all.

All we got from her was Stranahan's location, and barely that. A house in the bay, she said. A house with a windmill. Easiest five bills that woman ever made.

In the conversation Henshall says he [sic] "struggling to find people to go up the roads" explaining how it would be "no good for black people" and how they need a "young white boy to go up there".Stock agrees, saying how he knows "this kid" who "owes me 12 bills".

Synonyms: account, invoice

My lord, here is my bill.

Synonyms: broadsheet, broadside, card, circular, flier, flyer, handbill, poster, posting, placard, notice, throwaway

In the meantime I will draw a bill of properties, such as our play wants.

Synonyms: bank bill, banker's bill, bank note, banknote, Federal Reserve note, government note, greenback, note

Ay, and Rato-lorum too; and a gentleman born, Master Parson; who writes himself Armigero, in any bill, warrant, quittance, or obligation, Armigero.

Meanwhile, the bills on the main stages skewed towards mainstream pop, with mixed results. Lorde’s Friday evening Other stage appearance was one of the weekend’s highlights. The staging and choreography were fantastic – a giant glass tank on a hydraulic platform, in and around which a troupe of dancers acted out the highs and lows of a teenage party

verb


bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

(transitive) To advertise by a bill or public notice.

(transitive) To charge; to send a bill to.

Examples


Synonym: placard

[...] it will be recalled that in 1960 they were billed as the long-distance express multiple-units of the future, [...].

Synonym: charge

The physician explains that this is an option for her and that she can sign the facility's ABN so that if Medicare denies the claim, the facility can bill her for the scan.

Etimology


From Middle English bill, bil, bille, bile, from Old English bile (“beak (of a bird); trunk (of an elephant)”), of unknown origin. Perhaps from a special use of Old English bil, bill (“hook; sword”) (see below).

noun


bill (plural bills)

The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.

A beak-like projection, especially a promontory.

Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.

Examples


Synonyms: beak, neb, nib, pecker

The woosel cock so black of hue, With orange-tawny bill, The throstle with his note so true, The wren with little quill […]

[…] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew.

There is a lighthouse on Portland Bill.

verb


bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

(obsolete) to peck

to stroke bill against bill, with reference to doves; to caress in fondness

Examples


As the ox hath his bow, sir, the horse his curb and the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires; and as pigeons bill, so wedlock would be nibbling.

Etimology


From Middle English bill, bille, bil, from Old English bil, bill (“a hooked point; curved weapon; two-edged sword”), from Proto-Germanic *bilją (“axe; sword; blade”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyH- (“to strike; beat”). Cognate with West Frisian bile (“axe”), Dutch bijl (“axe”), German Bille (“axe”).

noun


bill (plural bills)

Any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff.

A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle, used in pruning, etc.; a billhook.

Somebody armed with a bill; a billman.

A pickaxe or mattock.

(nautical) The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke (also called the peak).

Examples


Synonym: polearm

In the British Museum there is an entry of a warrant, granted to Nicholas Spicer, authorising him to impress smiths for making two thousand Welch bills or glaives.

France had no infantry that dared to face the English bows and bills.

Synonyms: billhook, hand bill, hedgebill

Synonym: billman

verb


bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

(transitive) To dig, chop, etc., with a bill.

Etimology


(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

noun


bill (plural bills)

The bell, or boom, of the bittern.

Examples


The bittern's hollow bill was heard.

Etimology


From a pronunciation spelling of build.

verb


bill (third-person singular simple present bills, present participle billing, simple past and past participle billed)

(transitive, intransitive, UK, slang) To roll up a marijuana cigarette.

Data provided by Wiktionary