# bill

Pronunciation: say "BIL" /bɪl/

## Noun

1. A written account of the charge for goods sold, services provided, or work done; an invoice.
   - Simple: A piece of paper or message that shows how much you must pay for something.
   - _The contractor sent a detailed bill for the kitchen renovation._
   - _Hospital bills piled up while she was out of work._
2. A draft of a proposed law presented to a legislature for debate and enactment.
   - Simple: A plan for a new law that lawmakers vote on.
   - _The senator introduced a bill to expand rural broadband access._
   - _After months of negotiation, both chambers passed the spending bill._
3. Paper currency of a particular denomination; a banknote. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: A piece of paper money, like a five-dollar or twenty-dollar bill.
   - _The cashier held the hundred-dollar bill up to the light to check it._
   - _The ATM dispenses bills in twenties and fifties._
5. The beak of a bird, especially a small or flattened one; also applied to the snout of a platypus and to similar structures in turtles and other animals.
   - Simple: A bird's beak, especially one that is small or flat.
   - _Shorebirds probe the mudflats with their slender bills._
   - _The platypus uses its leathery bill to sense prey underwater._
9. The stiff projecting brim at the front of a cap, shading the eyes and face from the sun.
   - Simple: The stiff front part of a cap that keeps sun out of your eyes.
   - _Sweat had darkened the bill of his old fishing cap._
   - _Some players keep the bill flat, while others bend it into a curve._
10. A printed or written notice posted up or handed out to advertise something, such as a performance, lecture, or sale.
   - Simple: A printed paper that tells people about a show, sale, or event.
   - _Volunteers pasted bills for the rally on every lamppost._
   - _An old bill advertising the 1924 county fair still hangs in the barn._
7. A set of items, such as performances or events, presented together as one program.
   - Simple: A group of things, like the acts in a show, offered together as one program.
   - _The festival announced a bill featuring twelve bands across two stages._
   - _Boxing fans complained that the weak undercard dragged down the whole bill._
8. A written list or formal document, now used mainly in set phrases such as 'bill of lading', 'bill of sale' and 'bill of health'.
   - Simple: A written list or official paper, now used mostly in fixed phrases like 'bill of sale'.
   - _The ship could not leave port until the inspector gave it a clean bill of health._
   - _The clerk checked each crate against the bill of lading before the truck pulled out._
11. One hundred dollars or, in the UK, one hundred pounds, in casual or slang use. *(slang, Canada, US)*
   - Simple: Slang for one hundred dollars or one hundred pounds.
   - _The mechanic wanted a bill and a half just to look at the engine._
   - _Fixing the brakes set him back three bills._
12. A written instrument binding the signer to pay a stated sum on demand or at a future date, with or without interest; in the United States usually called a promissory note.
   - Simple: A signed paper that promises to pay money at a later time or when asked.
   - _Short of cash, the shipowner signed a bill binding him to pay the supplier within sixty days._
   - _Merchants settled distant accounts with bills rather than shipping coin._
13. A cutting instrument with a hook-shaped point, fitted with a handle and used in pruning and similar work; a billhook.
   - Simple: A cutting tool with a curved, hooked blade on a handle, used for trimming plants and small branches.
   - _He sharpened the bill before tackling the overgrown hedgerow._
   - _Farm workers once carried bills for laying hedges and cutting firewood._
14. An infantry weapon of the 14th and 15th centuries, with a broad, heavy, hook-shaped blade and short spikes mounted on a long staff; earlier, an Anglo-Saxon sword.
   - Simple: A weapon from long ago with a heavy, hooked blade on a long pole.
   - _Militiamen drilled with bills in the courtyard before the spring campaign._
   - _A rusted bill hung above the great hearth of the manor._

## Verb

4. To send someone a statement of charges; to charge for goods or services provided.
   - Simple: To ask someone to pay for something, usually by sending them a note of the cost.
   - _Consultants typically bill the client monthly for ongoing work._
   - _The hospital billed her insurance directly for the procedure._
6. To advertise or announce by a public notice, especially in promotional material for a performance or event.
   - Simple: To tell people about a show or event using posters or ads.
   - _Organizers bill the festival as the largest of its kind in the region._
   - _Promoters billed the fight as the rematch of the decade._
15. To roll marijuana into a cigarette; to roll a joint. *(slang, UK)*
   - Simple: To roll a cigarette with marijuana in it.
   - _Someone was billing up in the corner of the kitchen while the music shook the windows._
   - _He could bill a joint in seconds, even sitting in the back of a moving car._
16. To stroke bill against bill, as doves do; to caress or exchange affection tenderly.
   - Simple: To touch beaks together the way doves do, or to kiss and hug gently.
   - _The pair of doves billed and cooed in the shade of the barn._
   - _We watched the two lovebirds bill and coo in their cage all morning._

## Verb

17. To peck, as a bird does with its beak. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To pick at something with the beak, like a bird eating seeds.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A narrow promontory or beaklike projection of land extending into the sea.
- (noun) A written declaration stating a wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
- (noun) Someone armed with a bill, a hooked polearm carried by foot soldiers; a billman.
- (noun) A pickaxe or mattock; a heavy hand tool for breaking up earth or rock.
- (noun) The pointed end of each arm of an anchor, lying at or beyond the fluke; the peak.
- (verb) To dig, chop, or cut something with a bill.
- (noun) At Eton College, a list of pupils to be disciplined for breaking school rules.
- (noun) The bell or boom of the bittern; the deep, resonant call made by the marsh bird.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 6–8, 10–12** — Medieval Latin bulla ("seal, sealed document") reached Middle English bille by way of Old French and Anglo-Norman. Bill, bull (as in a papal bull), and bulla are doublets.
**Meanings 5, 9, 16–17** — Old English bile, a word of unknown origin, meant a bird's beak or an elephant's trunk. One idea is that it is a special use of bil or bill ("hook, sword"), another Old English word. Middle English had it as bille.
**Meanings 13–14** — *bʰeyH-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to strike, beat," gave Proto-Germanic *bilją ("ax, sword, blade") and then Old English bil or bill, which could mean a hooked point, a curved weapon, or a two-edged sword. This became Middle English bill. Dutch bijl and German Bille ("ax") are cognates.
**Meaning 15** — From a pronunciation spelling of build.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bill (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).