bili|ous /b I liəs/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If someone describes the appearance of something as bilious , they mean that they think it looks unpleasant and rather disgusting. [WRITTEN , DISAPPROVAL ] □ …a bilious shade of green.
2 ADJ If you feel bilious , you feel sick and have a headache. □ She is suffering a bilious attack.
3 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Bilious is sometimes used to describe the feelings or behaviour of someone who is extremely angry or bad-tempered. [WRITTEN ] □ His speech was a bilious, rancorous attack on young people.
bilk /b I lk/ (bilks , bilking , bilked ) VERB To bilk someone out of something, especially money, means to cheat them out of it. [AM , INFORMAL ] □ [V n + out of ] They are charged with bilking investors out of millions of dollars. [Also V n]
bill ◆◆◇ /b I l/ (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. □ [+ for ] 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 ] Are you going to bill me for this? [Also V n]
3 N‑SING 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 A bill is a piece of paper money. [AM ] □ …a large quantity of U.S. dollar bills. in BRIT, use note 5 N‑COUNT [usu sing] 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. ● bill|ing N‑UNCOUNT □ …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 ] 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 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 If you have to foot the bill for something, you have to pay for it. □ Who is footing the bill for her extravagant holiday?
bill|board /b I lbɔː r d/ (billboards ) N‑COUNT A billboard is a very large board on which posters are displayed.
-billed /-b I ld/ COMB -billed combines with adjectives to indicate that a bird has a beak of a particular kind or appearance. □ …yellow-billed ducks.
bil|let /b I l I t/ (billets , billeting , billeted )
1 VERB [usu passive] If members of the armed forces are billeted in a particular place, that place is provided for them to stay in for a period of time. □ [be V -ed adv/prep] The soldiers were billeted in private homes.
2 N‑COUNT A billet is a house where a member of the armed forces has been billeted.
bill|fold /b I lfoʊld/ (billfolds ) N‑COUNT A billfold is a small flat folded case, usually made of leather or plastic, where you can keep banknotes and credit cards. [AM ] in BRIT, use wallet
bil|liards /b I liə r dz/ The form billiard is used as a modifier. 1 N‑UNCOUNT Billiards is a game played on a large table, in which you use a long stick called a cue to hit balls against each other or into pockets around the sides of the table. [BRIT ] in AM, use pocket billiards , pool 2 N‑UNCOUNT Billiards is a game played on a large table, in which you use a long stick called a cue to hit balls against each other or against the walls around the sides of the table. [AM ]
bil|lion ◆◆◆ /b I ljən/ (billions ) The plural form is billion after a number, or after a word or expression referring to a number, such as 'several' or 'a few'. 1 NUM A billion is a thousand million. □ …3 billion dollars. □ This year, almost a billion birds will be processed in the region.
2 QUANT If you talk about billions of people or things, you mean that there is a very large number of them but you do not know or do not want to say exactly how many. □ [+ of ] Biological systems have been doing this for billions of years. □ [+ of ] He urged U.S. executives to invest billions of dollars in his country. ● PRON You can also use billions as a pronoun. □ He thought that it must be worth billions.
bil|lion|aire /b I ljəneə r / (billionaires ) N‑COUNT A billionaire is an extremely rich person who has money or property worth at least a thousand million pounds or dollars.
bil|lionth /b I ljənθ/ (billionths )
1 ORD The billionth item in a series is the one you count as number one billion. □ Disney will claim its one billionth visitor before the end of the century.