bilk
verb /bɪlk/
/bɪlk/
(informal, especially North American English)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they bilk | /bɪlk/ /bɪlk/ |
| he / she / it bilks | /bɪlks/ /bɪlks/ |
| past simple bilked | /bɪlkt/ /bɪlkt/ |
| past participle bilked | /bɪlkt/ /bɪlkt/ |
| -ing form bilking | /ˈbɪlkɪŋ/ /ˈbɪlkɪŋ/ |
- bilk somebody (out of something) | bilk something (from somebody) to cheat somebody, especially by taking money from them
- a conman who bilked investors out of millions of dollars
Word Originmid 17th cent. (originally used in cribbage meaning ‘spoil one's opponent's score’): perhaps a variant of baulk.