bill
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɪl/
enpr: bîl
ipa: [bɪɫ]
note: l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand
ipa: [bɪo̯]
note: l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand
ipa: [bɪʊ̯]
rhymes: -ɪl
Forms: form: bills
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.
Senses: glosses: A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)
glosses: A document, originally sealed; a formal statement or official memorandum. (Now obsolete except with certain qualifying words; bill of health, bill of sale etc.)
examples: text: Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Prime Minister, I beg to introduce a bill entitled[…]
text: Why, I'll exhibit a bill in the parliament for the putting down of men.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 28:
text: 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.
ref: 2012 December 14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 2, page 23:
synonyms: measure
glosses: A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
examples: text: ... the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality ...
ref: 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
topics: law
glosses: 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.
examples: text: He gave the change for a three dollar bill. Upon examination, the bill proved to be counterfeit.
ref: 1830, anonymous author, The Galaxy of Wit: Or, Laughing Philosopher, Being a Collection of Choice Anecdotes, Many of Which Originated in or about "The Literary Emporium":
text: […]So I wropped 'em up in a five dollar bill and tied 'em up and sent 'em, and they ain't back yet.”
ref: 1935, Cabins in the Laurel, University of North Carolina Press, published 19 March 2014, →ISBN, page 231:
text: I ran into the Devil, babe, he loaned me 20 bills.
ref: 1970, “Friend of the Devil”, performed by Grateful Dead:
glosses: A piece of paper money; a banknote.
examples: text: There was no excuse, simply no excuse for not making four or five bills a week. A little initiative, that's all.
ref: 1954, Budd Schulberg, On the Waterfront, Random House, page 25:
text: 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.
ref: 1989, Carl Hiaasen, Skin Tight, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 113:
glosses: A piece of paper money; a banknote.
One hundred dollars.
examples: text: In the conversation Henshall says he "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".
ref: 2023, BBC News: "Newport: Drugs gang jailed for exploiting vulnerable child" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66570256
glosses: One hundred pounds sterling.
examples: text: He received a bill of £9 for the groceries.
text: My lord, here is my bill.
ref: c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], line 85:
synonyms: account
invoice
glosses: A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.
examples: text: In the meantime I will draw a bill of properties, such as our play wants.
ref: c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], line 104:
synonyms: broadsheet
broadside
card
circular
flier
flyer
handbill
poster
posting
placard
notice
throwaway
glosses: A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods
examples: text: Ay, and Rato-lorum too; and a gentleman born, Master Parson; who writes himself Armigero, in any bill, warrant, quittance, or obligation, Armigero.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], line 8:
synonyms: bank bill
banker's bill
bank note
banknote
Federal Reserve note
government note
greenback
note
glosses: 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.
examples: text: 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
ref: 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian:
glosses: A set of items presented together.
examples: text: One of the best stories of the period describes the misadventure of a batch of candidates for confirmation whose names were by accident sent up to the Head-Master on a piece of paper identical in size and shape with the "bill" used by the Masters for the purpose of reporting delinquents. Keate, we are told, insisted on flogging all the boys mentioned in the document […]
ref: 1875, Sir H. C. Maxwell Lyte, A History of Eton College, 1440-1875, page 373:
qualifier: Eton College
glosses: A list of pupils to be disciplined for breaking school rules.
Derived terms: accommodation bill
bathroom bill
billboard
bill discounter
biller
billfold
billhead
billholder
billlike
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
foot the bill
handbill
heads of the bill
heartbeat bill
housekeeping bill
hybrid bill
light bill
member's bill
monthly bill
newsbill
no-bill
on one's bill
paybill
phony as a three-dollar bill
playbill
private bill
private member's bill
quarter bill
queer as a three dollar bill
revenue bill
scrilla
sell someone a bill of goods
single as a dollar bill
small, unmarked bills
station bill
superbill
T-bill
time bill
timebill
topbill
Treasury bill
triple bill
true bill
victualling bill
wage bill
watch bill
waybill
Related terms: check