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• bill
  bill

  noun

  a statement of money owed for goods or services supplied.
• Bill
  Bill

  noun

  a first name, form of William.

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.

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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.

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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.

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bill ⁴ American  

[bil] / bɪl /

noun

British Dialect.

1. the cry of the bittern.

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Bill ⁵ American  

[bil] / bɪl /

noun

1. a first name, form of William.

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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

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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

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

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verb

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

2. (of lovers) to kiss and whisper amorously

bill ³ British  

/ bɪl /

noun

1. a pike or halberd with a narrow hooked blade

2. short for billhook

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bill ⁴ British  

/ bɪl /

noun

1. ornithol another word for boom 1

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bill More Idioms  

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

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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”; see 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

Explanation

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).

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bill Bill

Newsom said at the time the bill would give the public a “false sense of security,” without making a sufficient distinction between the kinds of uses for which AI is deployed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican congressman from South Carolina who backed the bill, said in a statement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

Newsom had a solution: A budget bill that exempted correctional facility closures from the environmental review process.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

The debate itself was tetchier, more irritable than when Kim Leadbeater introduced a similar bill in 2024.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

I carried my limp and worn five-dollar bill to the back table.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Across the nation, anti-Muslim fervor was so strong that Bush was compelled to explain to the American people that freedom of religion was still in the Bill of Rights.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

Bill Lewis describes life on the streets as lonely, destitute and tough.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

I know Bill Plaschke put the curse on them by declaring an undefeated season but coach Sean McVay and the Rams have to do better.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden reunited at Ground Zero on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that brought down the Twin Towers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

"I didn't sleep very well. Bill and I were out late, too."

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Related Words

• check
• debt
• note
• statement