bilk

[ bilk ]

/ bɪlk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bilk ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to defraud; cheat: He bilked the government of almost a million dollars.

to evade payment of (a debt).

to frustrate: a career bilked by poor health.

to escape from; elude: to bilk one's pursuers.

noun

a cheat; swindler.

a trick; fraud; deceit.

Words related to bilk

fleece, con, deceive, defraud, swindle, overreach, do, rook, thwart, beat, ruin, snow, frustrate, trick, foil, gyp, disappoint, circumvent, bamboozle, flimflam

Words nearby bilk

biliteral, biliterate, bilith, biliuria, biliverdin, bilk, bill, bill broker, bill of adventure, bill of attainder, bill of entry

Origin of bilk

First recorded in 1625–35; of obscure origin

SYNONYMS FOR bilk

1 swindle, trick, dupe, fleece, rook.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bilk ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM bilk

bilk·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bilked

The California governor candidate hit back hard against charges she bilked a Hispanic housekeeper.
Meg Whitman's Latino Trouble|Shushannah Walshe|September 30, 2010|DAILY BEAST
She threw the paint-stained duster into the studio stove, stuck out her tongue at the sleeper, and whispered, 'Bilked!'
The Light That Failed|Rudyard Kipling
He said he thought he had been bilked, and that the money would never be turned over.
Satan's Invisible World Displayed or, Despairing Democracy|W. T. Stead
She threw the paint-stained duster into the studio stove, stuck out her tongue at the sleeper, and whispered, "Bilked!"
The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition|Rudyard Kipling

To have a female confidence game played on a man would leave less of a sting than to be bilked by a male.
Peck's Sunshine|George W. Peck
Don't tell me you bilked 'em all so 'andily on settin' that 'ouse afire.
The Incendiary|W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy

British Dictionary definitions for bilked

bilk

/ (bɪlk) /

verb (tr)

to balk; thwart

(often foll by of) to cheat or deceive, esp to avoid making payment to

to escape from; elude

cribbage to play a card that hinders (one's opponent) from scoring in his or her crib

noun

a swindle or cheat

a person who swindles or cheats

Derived forms of bilk

bilker, noun

Word Origin for bilk

C17: perhaps variant of balk

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