Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - bill

(bills, billing, billed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. 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. N-COUNT 2. 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. Are you going to bill me for this? VERB: no cont, V n for n, also V n 3. 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) N-SING: the N 4. A bill is a piece of paper money. (AM; in BRIT, use note) ...a large quantity of US dollar bills. N-COUNT: usu supp N 5. 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. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu with supp 6. The bill of a show or concert is a list of the entertainers who will take part in it. N-SING 7. If someone is billed to appear in a particular show, it has been advertised that they are going to be in it. She was billed to play the Red Queen in Snow White. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed to-inf • billing ...their quarrels over star billing. N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp 8. 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. They bill it as Britain’s most exciting museum. VERB: V n as n 9. A bird’s bill is its beak. N-COUNT 10. see also Private Member’s Bill 11. 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. PHRASE: V inflects 12. If you have to foot the bill for something, you have to pay for it. Who is footing the bill for her extravagant holiday? PHRASE: V inflects