billing

[bil-ing] /ˈbɪl ɪŋ/
noun
1.
the relative position in which a performer or act is listed on handbills, posters, etc.:
A star usually receives billing above the title of the play.
2.
advertising; publicity:
The show was a sellout weeks ahead of the opening because of advance billing.
3.
the amount of business done by a firm, especially an advertising agency, within a specified period of time.
4.
an act or instance of preparing or sending out a bill or invoice.
5.
the total amount of the cost of goods or services billed to a customer, usually covering purchases made or services rendered within a specified period of time.
Origin
1870-75; bill1 + -ing1

bill1

[bil] /bɪl/
noun
1.
a statement of money owed for goods or services supplied:
He paid the hotel bill when he checked out.
2.
a piece of paper money worth a specified amount:
a ten-dollar bill.
3.
Government. a form or draft of a proposed statute presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed and made law.
4.
bill of exchange.
5.
a written or printed public notice or advertisement.
6.
any written paper containing a statement of particulars:
a bill of expenditures.
7.
Law. a written statement, usually of complaint, presented to a court.
8.
Slang. one hundred dollars:
The job pays five bills a week.
9.
playbill.
10.
entertainment scheduled for presentation; program:
a good bill at the movies.
11.
Obsolete.
  1. a promissory note.
  2. a written and sealed document.
  3. a written, formal petition.
verb (used with object)
12.
to charge for by bill; send a bill to:
The store will bill me.
13.
to enter (charges) in a bill; make a bill or list of:
to bill goods.
14.
to advertise by bill or public notice:
A new actor was billed for this week.
15.
to schedule on a program:
The management billed the play for two weeks.
Idioms
16.
fill the bill, to fulfill the purpose or need well:
As a sprightly situation comedy this show fills the bill.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English bille < Anglo-French < Anglo-Latin billa for Late Latin bulla bull2
Related forms
biller, noun
Synonyms
1. reckoning, invoice, statement. 5. bulletin, handbill, poster, placard, announcement, circular, throwaway, flyer, broadside.

bill2

[bil] /bɪl/
noun
1.
the parts of a bird's jaws that are covered with a horny or leathery sheath; beak.
2.
the visor of a cap or other head covering.
3.
a beaklike promontory or headland.
verb (used without object)
4.
to join bills or beaks, as doves.
Idioms
5.
bill and coo, to kiss or fondle and whisper endearments, as lovers:
My sister and her boyfriend were billing and cooing on the front porch.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English bile, bille, Old English bile beak, trunk; akin to bill3
Examples from the web for billing
  • Your account number is located on each billing you receive.
  • We need you to verify your billing and shipping information.
  • There were a couple followup letters which discuss treatment possibilities and subsequent problems with appropriate billing codes.
  • Every time a case was resolved, the billing structure became more fractured and complicated.
  • True to its billing, the box cleaned itself easily, leaving the litter free of unwanted confections in seconds.
  • It warrants its own billing and deserves whatever legacy or precedent it creates.
  • As usual nuclear power is not even mentioned here but coal gets top billing.
  • If the city's approach to water had changed, so would its billing.
  • The complexity of metering and billing would also be simplified.
  • Presumably, anyways, since the idiots never fixed the billing information.
British Dictionary definitions for billing

billing

/ˈbɪlɪŋ/
noun
1.
(theatre) the relative importance of a performer or act as reflected in the prominence given in programmes, advertisements, etc
2.
(mainly US & Canadian) public notice or advertising (esp in the phrase advance billing)

bill1

/bɪl/
noun
1.
money owed for goods or services supplied: an electricity bill
2.
a written or printed account or statement of money owed
3.
(mainly Brit) such an account for food and drink in a restaurant, hotel, etc Usual US and Canadian word check
4.
any printed or written list of items, events, etc, such as a theatre programme: who's on the bill tonight?
5.
(informal) fit the bill, fill the bill, to serve or perform adequately
6.
a statute in draft, before it becomes law
7.
a printed notice or advertisement; poster
8.
(US & Canadian) a piece of paper money; note
9.
an obsolete name for promissory note
10.
(law) See bill of indictment
11.
See bill of exchange
12.
See bill of fare
13.
(archaic) any document
verb (transitive)
14.
to send or present an account for payment to (a person)
15.
to enter (items, goods, etc) on an account or statement
16.
to advertise by posters
17.
to schedule as a future programme: the play is billed for next week
Word Origin
C14: from Anglo-Latin billa, alteration of Late Latin bulla document, bull³

bill2

/bɪl/
noun
1.
the mouthpart of a bird, consisting of projecting jaws covered with a horny sheath; beak. It varies in shape and size according to the type of food eaten and may also be used as a weapon
2.
any beaklike mouthpart in other animals
3.
a narrow promontory: Portland Bill
4.
(nautical) the pointed tip of the fluke of an anchor
verb (intransitive)
5.
(of birds, esp doves) to touch bills together
6.
(of lovers) to kiss and whisper amorously
Word Origin
Old English bile; related to billbill³

bill3

/bɪl/
noun
1.
a pike or halberd with a narrow hooked blade
2.
short for billhook
Word Origin
Old English bill sword, related to Old Norse bīldr instrument used in blood-letting, Old High German bil pickaxe

bill4

/bɪl/
noun
1.
(ornithol) another word for boom1 (sense 4)
Word Origin
C18: from dialect beelbell² (vb)
Word Origin and History for billing
n.

1875, "announcement on a bill or poster," verbal noun from bill (v.); hence top billing (1928). Meaning "act of sending out a bill" is recorded from 1908.

bill

n.

"written statement," mid-14c., from Anglo-French bille, Anglo-Latin billa "list," from Medieval Latin bulla "decree, seal, sealed document," in classical Latin "bubble, boss, stud, amulet for the neck" (hence "seal;" see bull (n.2)). Sense of "account, invoice" first recorded c.1400; that of "order to pay" (technically bill of exchange) is from 1570s; that of "paper money" is from 1660s. Meaning "draft of an act of Parliament" is from 1510s.

"bird's beak," Old English bill "bill, bird's beak," related to bill, a poetic word for a kind of sword (especially one with a hooked blade), from a common Germanic word for cutting or chopping weapons (cf. Old High German bihal, Old Norse bilda "hatchet," Old Saxon bil "sword"), from PIE root *bheie- "to cut, to strike" (cf. Armenian bir "cudgel," Greek phitos "block of wood," Old Church Slavonic biti "to strike," Old Irish biail "ax"). Used also in Middle English of beak-like projections of land (e.g. Portland Bill).

ancient weapon, Old English bill "sword (especially one with a hooked blade), chopping tool," common Germanic (cf. Old Saxon bil "sword," Middle Dutch bile, Dutch bijl, Old High German bihal, German Beil, Old Norse bilda "hatchet." See bill (n.2).

v.

"to send someone a bill of charge," 1864, from bill (n.1). Related: Billed; billing.

Slang definitions & phrases for billing

bill

noun
  1. A single dollar: Can I borrow a couple of bills until tomorrow? (1910+)
  2. A hundred dollars: I laid out four bills for that shearling (1920s+)
  3. A hundred yards of gain in football: Coach Jackson told me I needed two bills to win (1990s+ Football)
Related Terms

half bill, phony as a three-dollar bill


Idioms and Phrases with billing

bill

see: