BILL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bill mean? 

• BILL (noun)
  The noun BILL has 10 senses:

1. a statute in draft before it becomes law

2. an itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered

3. a piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank)

4. the entertainment offered at a public presentation

5. an advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution

6. a sign posted in a public place as an advertisement

7. a list of particulars (as a playbill or bill of fare)

8. a cutting tool with a sharp edge

9. a brim that projects to the front to shade the eyes

10. horny projecting mouth of a bird

  Familiarity information: BILL used as a noun is familiar.

• BILL (verb)
  The verb BILL has 3 senses:

1. demand payment

2. advertise especially by posters or placards

3. publicize or announce by placards

  Familiarity information: BILL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A statute in draft before it becomes law

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bill; measure

Context example:

they held a public hearing on the bill

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

instrument; legal document; legal instrument; official document ((law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right)

Meronyms (parts of "bill"):

rider (a clause that is appended to a legislative bill)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bill"):

trade bill (a statute that would regulate foreign trade)

farm bill (a statute that would regulate farm production and prices)

bill of attainder (a legislative act finding a person guilty of treason or felony without a trial)

appropriation bill (a legislative act proposing to authorize the expenditure of public funds for a specified purpose)

bottle bill (a statute that would require merchants to reclaim used bottles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

account; bill; invoice

Context example:

send me an account of what I owe

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

financial statement; statement (a document showing credits and debits)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bill"):

electric bill (a bill for money owed for electricity used)

hotel bill (statement of charges for staying in a hotel)

doctor's bill; medical bill (statement of charges for medical services)

phone bill; telephone bill (statement of charges for telephone service)

reckoning; tally (a bill for an amount due)

tax bill (money owed for taxes)

check; chit; tab (the bill in a restaurant)

Derivation:

bill (demand payment)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

bank bill; bank note; banker's bill; banknote; bill; Federal Reserve note; government note; greenback; note

Context example:

he peeled off five one-thousand-zloty notes

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

folding money; paper currency; paper money (currency issued by a government or central bank and consisting of printed paper that can circulate as a substitute for specie)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bill"):

ten dollar bill; tenner (a United States bill worth 10 dollars)

buck; clam; dollar; dollar bill; one dollar bill (a piece of paper money worth one dollar)

two dollar bill (a United States bill worth 2 dollars)

five-spot; five dollar bill; fiver (a United States bill worth 5 dollars)

twenty; twenty dollar bill (a United States bill worth 20 dollars)

fifty; fifty dollar bill (a United States bill worth 50 dollars)

c-note; hundred dollar bill (a United States bill worth 100 dollars)

silver certificate (formerly a bank note issued by the United States Treasury and redeemable in silver)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The entertainment offered at a public presentation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

program; programme (a performance (or series of performances) at a public presentation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bill; broadsheet; broadside; circular; flier; flyer; handbill; throwaway

Context example:

he mailed the circular to all subscribers

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

ad; advert; advertisement; advertising; advertizement; advertizing (a public promotion of some product or service)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bill"):

stuffer (an advertising circular that is enclosed with other material and (usually) sent by mail)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A sign posted in a public place as an advertisement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bill; card; notice; placard; poster; posting

Context example:

a poster advertised the coming attractions

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

sign (a public display of a message)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bill"):

show bill; show card; theatrical poster (a poster advertising a show or play)

flash card; flashcard (a card with words or numbers or pictures that is flashed to a class by the teacher)

Derivation:

bill (advertise especially by posters or placards)

bill (publicize or announce by placards)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A list of particulars (as a playbill or bill of fare)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

list; listing (a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bill"):

bill of entry (a list of goods received at a customhouse for export or import)

bill of goods (a consignment of merchandise)

bill of fare; card; carte; carte du jour; menu (a list of dishes available at a restaurant)

playbill (a theatrical program)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A cutting tool with a sharp edge

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bill; billhook

Context example:

he used a bill to prune branches off of the tree

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A brim that projects to the front to shade the eyes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bill; eyeshade; peak; visor; vizor

Context example:

he pulled down the bill of his cap and trudged ahead

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

brim (a circular projection that sticks outward from the crown of a hat)

Holonyms ("bill" is a part of...):

baseball cap; golf cap; jockey cap (a cap with a bill)

kepi; peaked cap; service cap; yachting cap (a cap with a flat circular top and a visor)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Horny projecting mouth of a bird

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

beak; bill; neb; nib; pecker

Hypernyms ("bill" is a kind of...):

mouth (the externally visible part of the oral cavity on the face and the system of organs surrounding the opening)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bill"):

cere (the fleshy, waxy covering at the base of the upper beak of some birds)

Holonyms ("bill" is a part of...):

bird (warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings)

• BILL (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Demand payment

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bill; charge

Context example:

We were billed for 4 nights in the hotel, although we stayed only 3 nights

Hypernyms (to "bill" is one way to...):

account; calculate (keep an account of)

Verb group:

charge (enter a certain amount as a charge)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bill"):

impose; levy (impose and collect)

tithe (exact a tithe from)

assess (charge (a person or a property) with a payment, such as a tax or a fine)

undercharge (charge (someone) too little money)

surcharge (charge an extra fee, as for a special service)

invoice (send an bill to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something

Derivation:

bill (an itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Advertise especially by posters or placards

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

He was billed as the greatest tenor since Caruso

Hypernyms (to "bill" is one way to...):

advertise; advertize; promote; push (make publicity for; try to sell (a product))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

bill (a sign posted in a public place as an advertisement)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Publicize or announce by placards

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bill; placard

Hypernyms (to "bill" is one way to...):

post (publicize with, or as if with, a poster)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

bill (a sign posted in a public place as an advertisement)

 Context examples 

On this day, you may send a large check, perhaps to pay off a credit card bill or college tuition.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“Madam,” replied Mr. Micawber, “it is a true bill.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I remember, a thrush had the confidence to snatch out of my hand, with his bill, a of cake that Glumdalclitch had just given me for my breakfast.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Bill had carried it to the last.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

There's no sign of Nemesis, but a long lost binary partner for our Sun could fit the bill.

(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But astronomers had never seen anything that fit the bill for these precursors until now.

(Stunning Star Birth in Earliest Galaxies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Five such objects already known to astronomers fill the bill.

(The Super-Earth that Came Home for Dinner, NASA)

Now some ducks were sitting together quietly by a brook and taking their rest; and, whilst they were making their feathers smooth with their bills, they were having a confidential conversation together.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

But it's difficult to harness these microorganisms' abilities for biomedical purposes, so researchers are now manufacturing artificial microswimmers called tori that would fit the bill.

(Tiny swimming 'doughnuts' deliver the biomedical goods, National Science Foundation)

Then there was business to be transacted, bills to be paid, and everlasting reporters to be endured.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)