Chapter Bicorn to Bill of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Bilk To cheat, to obtain goods and decamp without paying for them.

“The landlord explained it by saying that `a bilk' is a man who never misses a meal and never pays a cent.”- A. K. McClure: Rocky Mountains letter xxii. p. 211.

    To “bilk” in cribbage is to spoil your adversaries' score; to balk him. Perhaps the two words are mere variants.

Bilker (A ). A person who gives a cabman less than his fare, and, when remonstrated with, gives a false name and address. Sometimes a “bilker” gets out and says, “Cabby, I shall be back in a minute,” turns the corner and is no more seen.

“The time for taking out a summons expires in seven days, and it often takes longer than that to hunt a `bilker' down.”- Nineteenth Century (March, 1893, p. 177).

   Also a cabman who does not pay the owner for the cab.

Bill (The ). The nose, also called the beak. Hence, “Billy” is slang for a pocket-handkerchief.

“Lastly came Winter, clothed all in frize,
Chattering his teeth for cold that did him chill;
Whilst on his hoary beard his breath did freeze;
And the dull drops that from his purple bill [nose],
As from a limbeck, did adown distill.”
Spenser: Faërie Queene, canto vii.

Bill (A ). The draft of an Act of Parliament.
   A public bill is the draft of an Act of Parliament affecting the general public.
   A private bill is the draft of an Act of Parliament for the granting of something to a company, corporation, or certain individuals.
   A true bill. I confess what you say is true. The case against the accused is first submitted to the grand jury. If they think the charge has a fair colour, they write on the declaration “A true bill,” and the case is submitted to the petty jury. Otherwise, they write “No true bill,” or “Not found,” and the case is at once dismissed or “ignored.”
   To ignore a bill is to write on it ignoramus.

“`Ignoramus' is the word properly used by the Grand Enquest ... and written upon the bill.”- Cowell.

   Bills payable. Bills of exchange, promissory notes, or other documents promising to pay a sum of money.
   Bills receivable. Promissory notes, bills of exchange, or other acceptances held by a person to whom the money stated is payable.