English Explanatory Dictionary

bill

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)
  2. A document, originally sealed; a formal statement or official memorandum. (Now obsolete except with certain qualifying words; bill of health, bill of sale etc.)
  3. A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
  4. 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.
  5. A piece of paper money; a banknote.
  6. One hundred dollars.
  7. One hundred pounds sterling.
  8. A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge owing; an invoice.
  9. A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, listing the price or charge paid; a receipt.
  10. A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods
  11. A writing that binds 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.
  12. A set of items presented together.
verb
  1. To advertise by a bill or public notice.
  2. To charge; to send a bill to.
noun
  1. The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.
  2. A beaklike projection, especially a promontory.
  3. Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.
verb
  1. to peck
  2. to stroke bill against bill, with reference to doves; to caress in fondness
noun
  1. 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.
  2. A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle, used in pruning, etc.; a billhook.
  3. Somebody armed with a bill; a billman.
  4. A pickaxe or mattock.
  5. The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke (also called the peak).
verb
  1. To dig, chop, etc., with a bill.
noun
  1. The bell, or boom, of the bittern.
verb
  1. To roll up a marijuana cigarette.
name
  1. A diminutive of the male given name William.
  2. A diminutive of the male given name Bilal.
  3. A surname.
  4. A nickname for the British constabulary. Often called "The Bill" or "Old Bill"

Pronunciation

/ˈbɪl/ [ˈbɪɫ] en-us-bill.ogg /ˈbɪʊ̯/ [ˈbɪʊ̯] /bɪl/ [bɪɫ] bîl

Word forms

bill bills billing billed

Etymology

From Middle English bille, from Anglo-Norman bille, from Old French bulle, from Medieval Latin bulla (“seal, sealed document”). Doublet of bull (“papal bull; bubble”) and bulla.

Synonyms

measure account invoice broadsheet broadside card circular flier flyer handbill poster posting placard notice throwaway bank bill banker's bill bank note banknote Federal Reserve note government note greenback note charge beak neb nib pecker brim hatbrim polearm billhook hand bill hedgebill billman

Related words

check Will

Derived words

accommodation bill bathroom bill billboard bill discounter biller billfold billhead billholder bill of adventure bill of attainder bill of complaint bill of costs bill of credit bill of divorce bill of entry bill of exceptions bill of exchange bill of fare bill of goods bill of health bill of indictment bill of lading bill of material bill of materials bill of mortality bill of pains and penalties bill of parcels bill of particulars bill of quantities bill of rights bill of sale bill of sight bill of store bill of sufferance bill of victualling billpayer billpaying billposter billposting bills payable bills receivable billsticker billsticking bill strap butcher's bill check bill Christmas tree bill commit a bill could I get the bill could we get the bill dishonoured bill divorce bill dollar bill double bill duebill e-bill Eurobill exchequer bill fill the bill fit the bill

Translations

Arabic: بِيل Armenian: Բիլ Bulgarian: Бил Chinese Mandarin: 比爾 /比尔 Dutch: Bill Faroese: Bill Georgian: ბილ Greek: Μπιλ Hindi: बिल Hungarian: Vili Japanese: ビル Korean: 빌 Māori: Piri Persian: بیل Polish: Bill Portuguese: Bill Russian: Билл Spanish: Guille Ukrainian: Білл
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