- bill
- ▪ I. bill bill 1 [bɪl] noun [countable]
• 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.
ˈdue bill ACCOUNTINGan 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.
past ˈdue bill ACCOUNTINGan 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.
ˈwage bill also wages bill ACCOUNTINGthe 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.
• 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 timeˈTreasury bill also ˈT-bill, ˈgovernment bill FINANCEa 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.
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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 a document showing how much money you owe for goods or services you have received: 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 a piece of paper given to you when you have finished eating at a restaurant, showing how much money you owe: »""Could we have the bill please?""
pick up the bill »Don't worry. I'll pick up the bill.
► GOVERNMENT, LAW a formal statement of a planned new law that is discussed before being voted on: »The bill became law in April.
amend/pass a bill »They soon realized that they didn't have enough votes to pass the bill.
► BILL OF EXCHANGE(Cf. ↑bill of exchange)→ 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]► to send someone a bill telling them how much money they owe for goods or services that they have received: bill sb for sth »The law firm had billed its clients for more than 400 hours.
► to describe sth as being sth: bill sth as sth »The new technology is being billed as ""the email of the future"".
Financial and business terms. 2012.
