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billet /'bilit/ noun, verb

a noun a place, often in a private house, where soldiers live temporarily nPIHIt&M'lilir (         )

verb [VN +adv./prep.] [usually passive] to send soldiers to live somewhere temporarily, especially in private houses during a war ( gflPA ) iK&Wi&lf (      )

billet-doux /,bilei 'du:/ noun {pi. billets-doux /.bilei'duiz/) •(from French, humorous or literary) a love letter 'If 45 bill-fold /'bilfauld; NAmE -fould/ noun {NAmE) - wallet(I)

billhook /'bilhuk/ noun a tool with a long handle and a curved blade, used for cutting the small branches off trees          )

billiards /'biliadz; /V/\m£ 'biljardz/ noun [U] a game for two people played with cues (= long sticks) and three balls on a long table covered with green cloth. Players try to hit the balls against each other and into pockets at the edge of the table. £ H :     a game of

billiards   —compare pool n.{6), snooker

billiard adj. [only before noun]: a billiard cue billing /'bilir)/ noun 1 [u] the position, especially an important one, that sb is advertised or described as having in a show, etc. (

to have top/star billing ^ W'£ 'M 2 [U] the act of preparing and sending bills to customers ff J4- flfc Q 3 [C, usually pi.] the total amount of business that a company does in a particular period of time ^ ik H: billings around $7 million * 700 Jf billion 0-w /'biljan/ number {plural verb 1 {abbr. bn) 1 000000000; one thousand million -HZ.; Worldwide sales reached 2.5 billion.

fij 7 25 {Z, o 0 half a billion dollars HLfLfit 0 They have spent billions on the problem (= billions of dollars, etc.). (Ml# 7ITT?T3 You say a, one, two, several, etc. billion without a final ‘s’ on ‘billion’. Billions (of ... ) can be used if there is no number or quantity before it. Always use a plural verb with billion or billions, except when an amount of money is mentioned. a, one, two, several, etc. billion H, billion if   S0

billions (of • • • ) 0       # If $5, billion ffl billions ft! fi

zjfj ig]:         Two billion (people) worldwide are expected to

watch the game.   20

O Two billion (dollars) was withdrawn from the account.

P UMT 20 fZ,jn0 There are more examples of how to use numbers at the entry for hundred. ]g % Wi is] ft!  JE hundred is|#r0 2 a billion or billions

{informal) a very large amount -+* \L it; A It: Our immune systems are killing billions of germs right now. n if]      £ £ W& U AC if MmMo

3 {old-fashioned, BrE) 1000000000000; one million million -JjfL EQU trillion billionaire /.bilja'neaOr); NAmE -'ner/ noun an extremely rich person, who has at least a thousand million pounds, dollars, etc. in money or property

bill of 'costs noun {BrE, law ^) a list of the charges and expenses that sb must pay to a lawyer or to sb who has won a legal case      Q

,bill of ex'change noun {pi. bills of exchange) {business ]§[) a written order to pay a sum of money to a particular person on a particular date iC*

.bill of 'fare noun {pi. bills of fare) (old-fashioned) a list of the food that can be ordered in a restaurant ( ft )       saa MENU

bill of lad ing noun {pi. bills of lading) {business jftf) a list giving details of the goods that a ship, etc. is carrying     Hfi'#-

.bill of 'rights noun [sing.] a written statement of the basic rights of the citizens of a country      A$.

Ig

.bill of 'sale noun {pi. bills of sale) {business j®j) an offi­cial document showing that sth has been bought ft it

mu-, mu

billow /'bilau; NAmE -lou/ verb, noun m verb [V] 1 (of a sail, skirt, etc.          M ?^) to fill with