a statement of money owed for goods or services supplied.
He paid the hotel bill when he checked out.
a piece of paper money worth a specified amount.
a ten-dollar bill.
Government. a form or draft of a proposed statute presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed and made law.
a written or printed public notice or advertisement.
any written paper containing a statement of particulars.
a bill of expenditures.
Law. a written statement, usually of complaint, presented to a court.
Slang. one hundred dollars.
The job pays five bills a week.
entertainment scheduled for presentation; program.
a good bill at the movies.
Obsolete.
a written and sealed document.
a written, formal petition.
to charge for by bill; send a bill to.
The store will bill me.
to enter (charges) in a bill; make a bill or list of.
to bill goods.
to advertise by bill or public notice.
A new actor was billed for this week.
to schedule on a program.
The management billed the play for two weeks.
the parts of a bird's jaws that are covered with a horny or leathery sheath; beak.
the visor of a cap or other head covering.
a beaklike promontory or headland.
a medieval shafted weapon having at its head a hooklike cutting blade with a beak at the back.
Also called billman. a person armed with a bill.
Also called billhook. a sharp, hooked instrument used for pruning, cutting, etc.
Also called pea. Nautical. the extremity of a fluke of an anchor.
money owed for goods or services supplied
an electricity bill
a written or printed account or statement of money owed
Usual US and Canadian word: check. such an account for food and drink in a restaurant, hotel, etc
any printed or written list of items, events, etc, such as a theatre programme
who's on the bill tonight?
informal to serve or perform adequately
a statute in draft, before it becomes law
a printed notice or advertisement; poster
a piece of paper money; note
an obsolete name for promissory note
law See bill of indictment
See bill of exchange
See bill of fare
archaic any document
to send or present an account for payment to (a person)
to enter (items, goods, etc) on an account or statement
to advertise by posters
to schedule as a future programme
the play is billed for next week
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
any beaklike mouthpart in other animals
a narrow promontory
Portland Bill
nautical the pointed tip of the fluke of an anchor
(of birds, esp doves) to touch bills together
(of lovers) to kiss and whisper amorously
a pike or halberd with a narrow hooked blade
short for billhook
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bille, from Anglo-French, from Anglo-Latin billa for Late Latin bulla “seal”; see bull 3
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bile, bille, Old English bile “beak, trunk”; akin to bill 3
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bil, Old English bill “sword”; cognate with Old High German bil “pickax”
When thinking about all the many meanings of the simple word bill think of the bill you get in a restaurant. A piece of paper that someone pushes toward you, right? In the legislature, laws draft form are called bills––pieces of paper being passed around. Dollar bills and advertising bills get passed around too. A bird will push the bill of their beak into things too, and the bill of your baseball hat is the part that sticks out in front of the rest of you. When an actor demands top billing, they want to come first on the billboard marquis in front of the theater (and everywhere else).
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2022, a bill to make daylight saving time permanent was approved by the Senate, but the effort stalled in the House.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Collins voted against that bill but did vote yes on a key procedural measure that allowed it to come to the Senate floor.
From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026
Later on Friday, Graham joined colleagues in announcing that they had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward with a revised version of the Russia sanctions bill.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Scissor Sisters were on the bill at Audley End Estate in Essex, also in August, and Richard Ashcroft was among the headliners at the Englefield Estate in Berkshire in July.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
“Sorry but...I don’t have one bill to spare.”
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Through Assembly Bill 66, she secured $2.5 million in funding for Scripps to start with a pilot study.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The fossil-rich Grand Staircase-Escalante, which covers 1.9 million acres, was established as a monument in 1996 under then-president Bill Clinton.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Five years after his election to the House in 1994 as part of the so-called Gingrich Revolution, Graham made his name as an impeachment manager during the 1999 impeachment trial of Bill Clinton.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
His great-nephew Bill Newton Dunn, 84, said his wife had found the letters, "a precious family archive", in a box secured with a pink ribbon.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
"Say," said Bill, "do you know that gang of Pilgrim Fathers have cornered the dining-car until half past three this afternoon?"
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
