Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A structure projecting from the head of a bird, consisting of the jaws and their horny covering and including the upper and lower mandibles; a beak.
  • noun A similar horny mouth part, such as that of a turtle.
  • noun The visor of a cap.
  • noun Nautical The tip of the fluke of an anchor.
  • intransitive verb To touch beaks together.
  • idiom (bill and coo) To kiss or caress and murmur endearments.
  • noun A billhook.
  • noun A halberd or similar weapon with a hooked blade and a long handle.
  • noun An itemized list or statement of fees or charges.
  • noun A statement or list of particulars, such as a theater program or menu.
  • noun The entertainment offered by a theater.
  • noun A public notice, such as an advertising poster.
  • noun A piece of legal paper money.
  • noun Slang One hundred dollars.
  • noun A bill of exchange.
  • noun Obsolete A promissory note.
  • noun A draft of a proposed law presented for approval to a legislative body.
  • noun The law enacted from such a draft.
  • noun A document containing the formal statement of a case in equity; a complaint seeking equitable relief.
  • noun An indictment or charge in an indictment against an accused person.
  • transitive verb To present a statement of costs or charges to.
  • transitive verb To enter on a statement of costs or on a particularized list.
  • transitive verb To advertise or schedule by public notice or as part of a program.
  • transitive verb To declare or describe officially; proclaim.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To furnish or cover with bills or advertisements; placard: as, to bill the town.
  • To join bills or beaks, as doves; caress in fondness.
  • To rub the bill.
  • noun A headland: as, the bill of Portland (England).
  • noun In the earliest use, a kind of broadsword.
  • noun An obsolete military weapon, consisting of a broad hook-shaped blade, having a short pike at the back and another at the summit, fixed to a long handle.
  • noun A cutting instrument with a blade hook-shaped toward the point, or having a concave cutting edge, used by plumbers, basket-makers, gardeners, and others.
  • noun A pickax; a mattock.
  • noun Nautical: The point or extremity of the fluke of an anchor.
  • noun The end of compass- or knee-timber.
  • noun A bellow or roar: applied to the boom of the bittern.
  • To enter in a bill; make a bill or list of; charge or enter in an account for future payment: as, to bill goods or freight to a consignee; to bill passengers in a stage-coach; to bill a customer's purchases. See book, v. t.
  • To advertise by bill or public notice; announce on a play-bill: as, he was billed to appear as Othello.
  • noun A writing of any kind, as a will, a medical prescription, etc.; a billet.
  • noun A written petition; a prayer.
  • noun In law, a name given to several papers in lawsuits; particularly, when used alone, to the bill in equity or bill of indictment (see below).
  • noun In com., a written statement of the names, quantities, and prices of articles sold by one person to another, with the date of sale, or a statement of work done, with the amount charged; an account of money claimed for goods supplied or services rendered.
  • noun An acknowledgment of debt; a promissory note: now obsolete except as sometimes used, especially in the United States, for bank-note. See 10.
  • noun A bill of exchange (which see, below).
  • noun Any written paper containing a statement of particulars: as, a bill of charges or expenditures; a bill of fare or provisions, etc.
  • noun A form or draft of a proposed statute presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed and made law.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English bile.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English bil, from Old English bill.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English bille, from Norman French, from Medieval Latin billa, alteration of bulla, seal on a document, from Latin, bubble.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English bile, of unknown origin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English bil, from West Germanic. Cognate with German Bille ("axe").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

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Examples

  • When the computer encounters the phrase “killed the bill,” it would deduce that “bill” can only be a proposed law submitted to a legislature, and that “kill” could mean only “stop.

    Internet News: Search Technology Archives 2009

  • When the computer encounters the phrase “killed the bill,” it would deduce that “bill” can only be a proposed law submitted to a legislature, and that “kill” could mean only “stop.

    Internet News: February 2009 Archives 2009

  • VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'BREAKING: Bush signs $600 billion \'stopgap bill\' '; yahooBuzzArticleSummary =' US President George W. Bush signs a government expenditures bill topping 600 billion dollars after his economic relief plan fails.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: BREAKING: Bush signs $600 billion 'stopgap bill' 2008

  • When a shipper is unable to insert the name of the consignee at the time the bill of lading is made out, a _bill to order_ is drawn up wherein the consignee's name is superseded by the words _shipper's order_, or simply _order_; it being thus understood that the goods shall be delivered to whomsoever presents, at point of destination, the bill of lading duly indorsed by the shipper.

    Up To Date Business Home Study Circle Library Series (Volume II.) Various

  • Addison always insisted that they said, "Dew-lip, Dew-lip; bill it, bill it, bill it;" -- the whole song being an exhortation of the robin to his mate whose name was _Dew-lip_, to get up and _bill it_ for worms.

    When Life Was Young At the Old Farm in Maine 1887

  • From John o 'Groat's to the Land's End a cry was raised of _The bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill_.

    The Political History of England - Vol XI From Addington's Administration to the close of William IV.'s Reign (1801-1837) John Knight Fotheringham 1867

  • "The bill includes hate crimes legislation, which I firmly believe is unnecessary, irresponsible, and *** certainly not germane to this bill***," Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • "The bill includes hate crimes legislation, which I firmly believe is unnecessary, irresponsible, and *** certainly not germane to this bill***," Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • [sudo] password for bill: root@bill-desktop:/home/bill# fdisk - l

    Ubuntu Forums bj218 2010

  • When you add up the mortgage insurance premiums for the buyer and the bank, the various searches, mortgage recording tax a substantial fee in New York for recording a mortgage that varies by county throughout the state, charges for recording the deed and other related documents, the title bill will add more than $16,000.00 to the buyer's closing costs.

    Ron Gitter: Memo to First Time Buyers: How to Avoid Closing Cost Sticker Shock Ron Gitter 2011

Comments

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  • "Bill Morgan and His Gal" is a kinda funny old-timey song by the New Lost City Ramblers, and the guy's girlfriend is a little free-spending, so the chorus is

    "My name is Morgan but it ain't J.P.

    You must think I own a railroad company

    You may have known me pretty long

    But you sure have got my initials wrong--

    My name is Morgan but it ain't J.P."

    "Dollar Bill" is a song by Tanglefoot, actually about a guy (not a piece of cash).

    February 9, 2008

  • A contranym: both to ask for money (invoice), and to have money (dollars).

    May 15, 2008

  • A Bill is born.

    August 22, 2008

  • Billy Bob, a lovable redneck name

    August 22, 2008

  • A pole weapon with a large chopping head, and often with a hook and backspike. Characteristically used by English infantry.

    May 5, 2011