▪ I. bill bill 1 [bɪl] noun [countable]
1. ACCOUNTING a list showing how much you have to pay for services or goods received;
= INVOICE:
• big companies that fail to settle their bills with smaller businesses on time
• The government will no longer foot the bill (= pay the bill ) if banks run into difficulty.
bill for
• The average bill for electricity is £270 a year.
an amount of money that is owed:
• Its shares have been trading on the basis of one share of stock plus a `due bill' of $4 since July 3.
an amount of money that should already have been paid:
• The company said it will propose a plan to pay substantially all past due bills owed to smaller vendors.
the total amount of money that a company or organization pays to its employees:
• One third of the total of government spending is the wage bill of the public sector.
2. a list showing how much you have to pay for food you have eaten in a restaurant;
= check AmE:
• We finished coffee and asked for the bill.
3. LAW a written proposal for a new law:
• The wording of the bill was vague.
• Democrats met earlier this month to draft (= write ) a new tax bill.
• The senate has passed a bill (= voted for one and made it law ) to reform the social security system.
— see also Finance Bill
• A dollar bill costs 3.2 cents to produce.
6. FINANCE a form of borrowing for short periods of time
ˈTreasury bill also ˈT-bill, ˈgovernment bill FINANCE
a form of borrowing for short periods of time by a government:
• Three-month Treasury bills now yield less than 4%.
• an auction of short-term US government bills
[m0] ▪ II. bill bill 2 verb [transitive]
to send a bill to someone saying how much they owe;
= INVOICE:
bill somebody for something
• They billed the Air Force for the work that they had carried out.
* * *
A short-term debt instrument with a maturity usually no longer than two years, although terminology varies from country to country. Bill is often a shorthand reference to Treasury bills, which are short-term government debt. Medium-term debt instruments are notes and longer-term instruments are bonds. In some markets a note has a maturity of two to five years and a bond has a maturity longer than five years, but usage varies.
* * *
Ⅰ.
bill UK US /bɪl/ noun [C]
► COMMERCE,
FINANCE,
ACCOUNTING bill for sth »
a bill for $10,000
big/huge/hefty, etc. bill (for sth) »
The company faces a hefty bill for repairs after the storm.
pay/settle a bill »
I don't have the money to pay this gas bill.
monthly/quarterly/weekly bill »
They can afford their monthly bills for basics such as food and housing but have little left for luxuries.
pay/pick up a bill »
The firm picked up the bill for him to be flown by executive jet to Edinburgh.
cut/reduce a bill »
We need to find ways of reducing our energy bills.
»
If you prefer you can request an itemized bill and get a list of every call you have made.
»
gas/phone/tax, etc. bill
► UK (
US check)
COMMERCE »
""Could we have the bill please?""
pick up the bill »
Don't worry. I'll pick up the bill.
► GOVERNMENT,
LAW »
The bill became law in April.
amend/pass a bill »
They soon realized that they didn't have enough votes to pass the bill.
► US MONEY
►
→
See also BACKED BILL(
Cf. ↑
backed bill),
BANK BILL(
Cf. ↑
bank bill),
COMMERCIAL BILL(
Cf. ↑
commercial bill),
DISCHARGED BILL(
Cf. ↑
discharged bill),
DISCOUNTED BILL(
Cf. ↑
discounted bill),
DOCUMENTS-AGAINST-ACCEPTANCE BILL(
Cf. ↑
documents-against-acceptance bill),
DOCUMENTS-AGAINST-PAYMENT BILL(
Cf. ↑
documents-against-payment bill),
DUE BILL(
Cf. ↑
due bill),
ELIGIBLE BILL(
Cf. ↑
eligible bill),
FINE TRADE BILL(
Cf. ↑
fine trade bill),
NON-PRIME BILL(
Cf. ↑
non-prime bill),
PERIOD BILL(
Cf. ↑
period bill),
SIGHT BILL(
Cf. ↑
sight bill),
TERM BILL(
Cf. ↑
term bill),
TIME BILL(
Cf. ↑
time bill),
TRADE BILL(
Cf. ↑
trade bill),
TREASURY BILL(
Cf. ↑
Treasury bill),
USANCE BILL(
Cf. ↑
usance bill),
WAGE BILL(
Cf. ↑
wage bill)
Ⅱ.
bill UK US /bɪl/ verb [T]
► bill sb for sth »
The law firm had billed its clients for more than 400 hours.
► bill sth as sth »
The new technology is being billed as ""the email of the future"".