Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

bill

1 American  
[bil] / bɪl /

noun

  1. a statement of money owed for goods or services supplied.

    He paid the hotel bill when he checked out.
    Synonyms:
    statement, invoice, reckoning

  2. a piece of paper money worth a specified amount.

    a ten-dollar bill.

  3. Government. a form or draft of a proposed statute presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed and made law.

  4. bill of exchange.

  5. a written or printed public notice or advertisement.

    Synonyms:
    broadside, flier, throwaway, circular, announcement, placard, poster, handbill, bulletin

  6. any written paper containing a statement of particulars.

    a bill of expenditures.

  7. Law. a written statement, usually of complaint, presented to a court.

  8. Slang. one hundred dollars.

    The job pays five bills a week.

  9. playbill.

  10. entertainment scheduled for presentation; program.

    a good bill at the movies.

  11. Obsolete.

    1. a promissory note.

    2. a written and sealed document.

    3. a written, formal petition.

verb (used with object)

  1. to charge for by bill; send a bill to.

    The store will bill me.

  2. to enter (charges) in a bill; make a bill or list of.

    to bill goods.

  3. to advertise by bill or public notice.

    A new actor was billed for this week.

  4. to schedule on a program.

    The management billed the play for two weeks.

idioms

  1. fit the bill, to be just what is needed for a particular purpose: Also fill the bill

    If you're looking for things to do with the family, this not-too-spooky Great Pumpkin Fest is sure to fit the bill.
bill 2 American  
[bil] / bɪl /

noun

  1. the parts of a bird's jaws that are covered with a horny or leathery sheath; beak.

  2. the visor of a cap or other head covering.

  3. a beaklike promontory or headland.

verb (used without object)

  1. to join bills or beaks, as doves.

idioms

  1. bill and coo, to kiss or fondle and whisper endearments, as lovers.

    My sister and her boyfriend were billing and cooing on the front porch.
bill 3 American  
[bil] / bɪl /

noun

  1. a medieval shafted weapon having at its head a hooklike cutting blade with a beak at the back.

  2. Also called billman.  a person armed with a bill.

  3. Also called billhook.  a sharp, hooked instrument used for pruning, cutting, etc.

  4. Also called pea.  Nautical. the extremity of a fluke of an anchor.

bill 4 American  
[bil] / bɪl /

noun

British Dialect.

  1. the cry of the bittern.

Bill 5 American  
[bil] / bɪl /

noun

  1. a first name, form of William.

bill 1 British  
/ bɪl /

noun

  1. money owed for goods or services supplied

    an electricity bill

  2. a written or printed account or statement of money owed

  3. Usual US and Canadian word: check.  such an account for food and drink in a restaurant, hotel, etc

  4. any printed or written list of items, events, etc, such as a theatre programme

    who's on the bill tonight?

  5. informal to serve or perform adequately

  6. a statute in draft, before it becomes law

  7. a printed notice or advertisement; poster

  8. a piece of paper money; note

  9. an obsolete name for promissory note

  10. law See bill of indictment

  11. See bill of exchange

  12. See bill of fare

  13. archaic any document

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to send or present an account for payment to (a person)

  2. to enter (items, goods, etc) on an account or statement

  3. to advertise by posters

  4. to schedule as a future programme

    the play is billed for next week
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bill 2 British  
/ bɪl /

noun

  1. the mouthpart of a bird, consisting of projecting jaws covered with a horny sheath; beak. It varies in shape and size according to the type of food eaten and may also be used as a weapon

  2. any beaklike mouthpart in other animals

  3. a narrow promontory

    Portland Bill

  4. nautical the pointed tip of the fluke of an anchor

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (of birds, esp doves) to touch bills together

  2. (of lovers) to kiss and whisper amorously

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bill 3 British  
/ bɪl /

noun

  1. a pike or halberd with a narrow hooked blade

  2. short for billhook

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bill 4 British  
/ bɪl /

noun

  1. ornithol another word for boom 1

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
bill More Idioms  

  1. see clean bill of health; fill the bill; foot the bill; sell a bill of goods.

Other Word Forms

  • biller noun

Etymology

Origin of bill1

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bille, from Anglo-French, from Anglo-Latin billa for Late Latin bulla “seal”; bull 3

Origin of bill2

First recorded before 1000; Middle English bile, bille, Old English bile “beak, trunk”; akin to bill 3

Origin of bill3

First recorded before 1000; Middle English bil, Old English bill “sword”; cognate with Old High German bil “pickax”

Origin of bill4

First recorded in 1780–90; akin to bell 2, bellow

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Critics contend Minnesota doesn’t deserve to be the staging ground for what the DHS has billed as the largest operation in the department’s history.

From The Wall Street Journal

To pay the bills, he also directed commercials and had Google as a client.

From The Wall Street Journal

The second is the Treasury issuing bills to fund a buyback of longer issues, which is directionally similar to the Fed’s Operation Twist in 2011 and 2012.

From Barron's

If you’re using it for the down payment on a house rather than bills, then you’re just shifting the money to a different type of investment.

From MarketWatch

The Legislature passed a bill in 2022 to gradually reduce that rate.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.