to bilk
12
9.5
- verb
- /bɪlk/
:
estafar
- The con artist was caught bilking elderly citizens out of their life savings.
- bilked investors
- bilked taxpayers
- bilking clients
People were being bilked by banks.
- People were being bilked by banks.
Examples
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He was convicted in 1998 for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors...
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We saw how that worked as Halliburton bilked the country.
Blog text (21) -
People were being bilked by banks.
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I always told her your firm was bilking her for millions.
-
All the while, he is bilking people out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Blog text (15) -
Some of those hotels are bilking those poor kids for every cent they can get.
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There indeed were some bad actors bilking financial institutions.
Academic text (1999) -
Specialized in bilking old folks out of their pensions.
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You don't get to keep your job at McDonald's if you bilk money from the till and get caught.
Blog text (28) -
Consider once-celebrated Park Avenue attorney Harvey Myerson, who was convicted in 1992 of bilking more than $2 million from his firm's major client, Shearson Lehman Hutton.
Academic text (1994)
Synonyms
20
5.5
To cheat someone and take their money by lying
8
8.8
Give someone less money than they are owed
6
8.9
To trick someone so you take their money or things
3
9.9
To cheat someone and take their money or things
1
9.9
To cheat someone out of money or things
To cheat someone by lying to get their money
To cheat someone by taking their money or things
To trick someone to take their money or goods
Antonyms
How Dishonest
- Formal
40
6.9
12
9.5
- Informal
14
8.5
- Informal
76
6.5
474
1.2
Surface Forms
Etymology
Bilk came into English as old slang meaning 'to cheat' or to avoid paying, though its exact origin is unclear. A helpful way to remember bilk is to think of someone 'milking' another for money — taking it unfairly. So, to bilk someone is to cheat or defraud them.