adv. [ Prefix a- + cock + bill: with bills cocked up. ] (Naut.) (a) Hanging at the cathead, ready to let go, as an anchor. (b) Topped up; having one yardarm higher than the other. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Counteractive of bilious complaints; tending to relieve biliousness. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., a babbler. ] (Zool.) The lesser whitethroat of Europe; -- called also babbling warbler. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. In America (and formerly in England), a promissory note of a bank payable to the bearer on demand, and used as currency; a bank note. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In England, a note, or a bill of exchange, of a bank, payable to order, and usually at some future specified time. Such bills are negotiable, but form, in the strict sense of the term, no part of the currency. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bile, bille, AS. bile beak of a bird, proboscis; cf. Ir. & Gael. bil, bile, mouth, lip, bird's bill. Cf. Bill a weapon. ] A beak, as of a bird, or sometimes of a turtle or other animal. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Billed p. pr. & vb. n. Billing. ] 1. To strike; to peck. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To join bills, as doves; to caress in fondness. “As pigeons bill.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To bill and coo, to interchange caresses; -- said of doves; also of demonstrative lovers. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The bell, or boom, of the bittern [ 1913 Webster ]

The bittern's hollow bill was heard. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bil, AS. bill, bil; akin to OS. bil sword, OHG. bill pickax, G. bille. Cf. Bill bea&unr_;. ] 1. A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle; -- used in pruning, etc.; a billhook. When short, called a hand bill, when long, a hedge bill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A weapon of infantry, in the 14th and 15th centuries. A common form of bill consisted of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, having a short pike at the back and another at the top, and attached to the end of a long staff. [ 1913 Webster ]

France had no infantry that dared to face the English bows end bills. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who wields a bill; a billman. Strype. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A pickax, or mattock. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To work upon ( as to dig, hoe, hack, or chop anything) with a bill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. bill, bille, fr. LL. billa (or OF. bille), for L. bulla anything rounded, LL., seal, stamp, letter, edict, roll; cf. F. bille a ball, prob. fr. Ger.; cf. MHG. bickel, D. bikkel, dice. Cf. Bull papal edict, Billet a paper. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Law) A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A form or draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill. [ 1913 Webster ]

She put up the bill in her parlor window. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An account of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; a statement of a creditor's claim, in gross or by items; as, a grocer's bill. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Any paper, containing a statement of particulars; as, a bill of charges or expenditures; a weekly bill of mortality; a bill of fare, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bill of adventure. See under Adventure. --
Bill of costs, a statement of the items which form the total amount of the costs of a party to a suit or action. --
Bill of credit. (a) Within the constitution of the United States, a paper issued by a State, on the mere faith and credit of the State, and designed to circulate as money. No State shall “emit bills of credit.” U. S. Const. Peters. Wharton. Bouvier (b) Among merchants, a letter sent by an agent or other person to a merchant, desiring him to give credit to the bearer for goods or money. --
Bill of divorce, in the Jewish law, a writing given by the husband to the wife, by which the marriage relation was dissolved. Jer. iii. 8. --
Bill of entry, a written account of goods entered at the customhouse, whether imported or intended for exportation. --
Bill of exceptions. See under Exception. --
Bill of exchange (Com.), a written order or request from one person or house to another, desiring the latter to pay to some person designated a certain sum of money therein generally is, and, to be negotiable, must be, made payable to order or to bearer. So also the order generally expresses a specified time of payment, and that it is drawn for value. The person who draws the bill is called the drawer, the person on whom it is drawn is, before acceptance, called the drawee, -- after acceptance, the acceptor; the person to whom the money is directed to be paid is called the payee. The person making the order may himself be the payee. The bill itself is frequently called a draft. See Exchange. Chitty. --
Bill of fare, a written or printed enumeration of the dishes served at a public table, or of the dishes (with prices annexed) which may be ordered at a restaurant, etc. --
Bill of health, a certificate from the proper authorities as to the state of health of a ship's company at the time of her leaving port. --
Bill of indictment, a written accusation lawfully presented to a grand jury. If the jury consider the evidence sufficient to support the accusation, they indorse it “A true bill, ” otherwise they write upon it “Not a true bill, ” or “Not found, ” or “Ignoramus”, or “Ignored.” --
Bill of lading, a written account of goods shipped by any person, signed by the agent of the owner of the vessel, or by its master, acknowledging the receipt of the goods, and promising to deliver them safe at the place directed, dangers of the sea excepted. It is usual for the master to sign two, three, or four copies of the bill; one of which he keeps in possession, one is kept by the shipper, and one is sent to the consignee of the goods. --
Bill of mortality, an official statement of the number of deaths in a place or district within a given time; also, a district required to be covered by such statement; as, a place within the bills of mortality of London. --
Bill of pains and penalties, a special act of a legislature which inflicts a punishment less than death upon persons supposed to be guilty of treason or felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. Bouvier. Wharton. --
Bill of parcels, an account given by the seller to the buyer of the several articles purchased, with the price of each. --
Bill of particulars (Law), a detailed statement of the items of a plaintiff's demand in an action, or of the defendant's set-off. --
Bill of rights, a summary of rights and privileges claimed by a people. Such was the declaration presented by the Lords and Commons of England to the Prince and Princess of Orange in 1688, and enacted in Parliament after they became king and queen. In America, a bill or declaration of rights is prefixed to most of the constitutions of the several States. --
Bill of sale, a formal instrument for the conveyance or transfer of goods and chattels. --
Bill of sight, a form of entry at the customhouse, by which goods, respecting which the importer is not possessed of full information, may be provisionally landed for examination. --
Bill of store, a license granted at the customhouse to merchants, to carry such stores and provisions as are necessary for a voyage, custom free. Wharton. --
Bills payable (pl.), the outstanding unpaid notes or acceptances made and issued by an individual or firm. --
Bills receivable (pl.), the unpaid promissory notes or acceptances held by an individual or firm. McElrath. --
A true bill, a bill of indictment sanctioned by a grand jury. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To advertise by a bill or public notice. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To charge or enter in a bill; as, to bill goods. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Native name. ] In Australia, a blind channel leading out from a river; -- sometimes called an anabranch. This is the sense of the word as used in the Public Works Department; but the term has also been locally applied to mere back-waters forming stagnant pools and to certain water channels arising from a source. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. & v. t. & i. Same as Bilge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An English fish, allied to the cod; the coalfish. [ Written also billet and billit. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Naut.) A piece of thick plank, armed with iron plates, and fixed on the bow or fore channels of a vessel, for the bill or fluke of the anchor to rest on. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A flat surface, as of a panel or of a fence, on which bills are posted; a bulletin board. especially, A large board out of doors and visible to passers-by, on which the space is rented for advertising purposes; also, the advertising displayed on such a board. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

(Com.) A book in which a person keeps an account of his notes, bills, bills of exchange, etc., thus showing all that he issues and receives. [ 1913 Webster ]

One who negotiates the discount of bills. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or } n. (Zool.) A weevil or curculio of various species, as the corn weevil. See Curculio. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Furnished with, or having, a bill, as a bird; -- used in composition; as, broad-billed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. billet, dim. of an OF. bille bill. See Bill a writing. ] 1. A small paper; a note; a short letter. “I got your melancholy billet.” Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A ticket from a public officer directing soldiers at what house to lodge; as, a billet of residence. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Quarters or place to which one is assigned, as by a billet or ticket; berth; position. Also used fig. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The men who cling to easy billets ashore. Harper's Mag. [ 1913 Webster ]

His shafts of satire fly straight to their billet, and there they rankle. Pall Mall Mag. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Billeted; p. pr. & vb. n. Billeting. ] [ From Billet a ticket. ] (Mil.) To direct, by a ticket or note, where to lodge. Hence: To quarter, or place in lodgings, as soldiers in private houses. [ 1913 Webster ]

Billeted in so antiquated a mansion. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. billette, bille, log; of unknown origin; a different word from bille ball. Cf. Billiards, Billot. ] 1. A small stick of wood, as for firewood. [ 1913 Webster ]

They shall beat out my brains with billets. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metal.) A short bar of metal, as of gold or iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) An ornament in Norman work, resembling a billet of wood either square or round. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Saddlery) (a) A strap which enters a buckle. (b) A loop which receives the end of a buckled strap. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Her.) A bearing in the form of an oblong rectangle. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Billets-doux [ F. billet note + doux sweet, L. dulcis. ] A love letter or note. [ 1913 Webster ]

A lover chanting out a billet-doux. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A round piece of timber at the bow or stern of a whaleboat, around which the harpoon line is run out when the whale darts off. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A name applied to several distinct fishes: (a) The garfish (Tylosurus longirostris, or Belone longirostris) and allied species. (b) The saury, a slender fish of the Atlantic coast (Scomberesox saurus). (c) The Tetrapturus albidus, a large oceanic species related to the swordfish; the spearfish. (d) The American fresh-water garpike (Lepidosteus osseus). [ 1913 Webster ]

A small, thin, flat container, usually made of leather or imitation leather, having a pocket of a size just large enough to hold paper currency and folded over once to fit in the pocket of one's clothing; it is a type of wallet, but having fewer compartments than the typical wallet. [ PJC ]

n. A printed form, used by merchants in making out bills or rendering accounts. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A person who holds a bill or acceptance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A device by means of which bills, etc., are held. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bill + hook. ] A thick, heavy knife with a hooked point, used in pruning hedges, etc. When it has a short handle, it is sometimes called a hand bill; when the handle is long, a hedge bill or scimiter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to the game of billiards. “Smooth as is a billiard ball.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. billiard billiards, OF. billart staff, cue form playing, fr. bille log. See Billet a stick. ] A game played with ivory balls o a cloth-covered, rectangular table, bounded by elastic cushions. The player seeks to impel his ball with his cue so that it shall either strike (carom upon) two other balls, or drive another ball into one of the pockets with which the table sometimes is furnished. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. Caressing; kissing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A market near the Billings gate in London, celebrated for fish and foul language. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Coarsely abusive, foul, or profane language; vituperation; ribaldry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. billion, arbitrarily formed fr. L. bis twice, in imitation of million a million. See Million. ] According to the French and American method of numeration, a thousand millions, or 1, 000, 000, 000; according to the English method, a million millions, or 1, 000, 000, 000, 000. See Numeration. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Billmen One who uses, or is armed with, a bill or hooked ax. “A billman of the guard.” Savile. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. Cf. Billet a stick. ] An alloy of gold and silver with a large proportion of copper or other base metal, used in coinage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. billot, dim. of bille. See Billet a stick. ] Bullion in the bar or mass. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. bölge, Sw. bölja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge. ] 1. A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whom the winds waft where'er the billows roll. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A great wave or flood of anything. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Billowed p. pr. & vb. n. Billowing. ] To surge; to rise and roll in waves or surges; to undulate. “The billowing snow.” Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. [ p. pr. & vb. n. of billow, verb ] 1. rising in billows. billowing smoke [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. stormy; affected by storms; -- of weather, used prenominally. calm
Syn. -- billowy, surging. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows. [ 1913 Webster ]

And whitening down the many-tinctured stream,
Descends the billowy foam. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. One whose occupation is to post handbills or posters in public places. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A club; esp., a policeman's club. Also called billy club [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. (Wool Manuf.) A slubbing or roving machine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A flat-bottomed river barge or coasting vessel. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. see billy, n. 1. [ PJC ]

n. a policeman's club; a nightstick.
Syn. -- truncheon, nightstick, billy, billy club. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ n., or . [ Perh. from bully + cock; that is, cocked like the hats of the bullies. ] A round, low-crowned felt hat; a wideawake. “The undignified billycocks and pantaloons of the West.” B. H. Chamberlain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Little acquiesced, and Ransome disguised him in a beard, and a loose set of clothes, and a billicock hat. Charles Reade. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

A male goat. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a large amount; British say "it rained like billyo" where Americans say "it rained like the devil". [ British ]
Syn. -- billy-ho. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a policeman's club.
Syn. -- truncheon, nightstick, billy, billy club. [ WordNet 1.5 ]