bill

[[t]bɪ̱l[/t]]

♦♦

bills, billing, billed

1) N-COUNT A bill is a written statement of money that you owe for goods or services.

They couldn't afford to pay the bills...

He paid his bill for the newspapers promptly.

...phone bills.

2) VERB: no cont If you bill someone for goods or services you have provided them with, you give or send them a bill stating how much money they owe you for these goods or services.

[V n for n] Are you going to bill me for this? [Also V n]

3) N-SING: the N The bill in a restaurant is a piece of paper on which the price of the meal you have just eaten is written and which you are given before you pay. [BRIT]

(in AM, use check)

4) N-COUNT: usu supp N A bill is a piece of paper money. [AM]

The case contained a large quantity of US dollar bills.

(in BRIT, use note)

5) N-COUNT: usu sing, usu with supp In government, a bill is a formal statement of a proposed new law that is discussed and then voted on.

This is the toughest crime bill that Congress has passed in a decade...

The bill was approved by a large majority.

6) N-SING The bill of a show or concert is a list of the entertainers who will take part in it.

7) VERB: usu passive If someone is billed to appear in a particular show, it has been advertised that they are going to be in it.

[be V-ed to-inf] She was billed to play the Red Queen in Snow White.

Derived words:

billing N-UNCOUNT usu with supp

...their quarrels over star billing.

8) VERB If you bill a person or event as a particular thing, you advertise them in a way that makes people think they have particular qualities or abilities.

[V n as n] They bill it as Britain's most exciting museum.

9) N-COUNT A bird's bill is its beak.

10) → See also Private Member's Bill

11) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone or something fits the bill or fills the bill, you mean that they are suitable for a particular job or purpose.

If you fit the bill, send a CV to Rebecca Rees.

12) PHRASE: V inflects If you have to foot the bill for something, you have to pay for it.

Who is footing the bill for her extravagant holiday?

13) PHRASE: PHR after v If a doctor gives you a clean bill of health, they tell you that you are fit and healthy.

President Mitterrand, 75, has been given a clean bill of health by doctors in Paris.