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to overbill

to overbill

2 6.1
Charge someone more money than they should pay for goods or services
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈbɪl/
translation icon : sobrecargar
  • If you think you were overbilled for your hotel stay, contact customer service to dispute the charges.
  • customers were overbilled
  • overbill the government
  • doctor accused of overbilling

Examples

  • Other high-profile cases include criminal defense attorney William Perrone, who pleaded guilty during July 1993 to overbilling the city of Philadelphia $130,000 for representing indigent clients.

    Academic text (1994)
  • For that reason, Pierce of Barger & Wolen says he generally does not advise clients to agree to confidential settlements with law firms that overbilled.

    Academic text (1994)
  • I"m not gonna overbill patients for you.

  • Oil states suspected they were being overbilled for military services and for weapons that they could not afford.

    Academic text (2001)
  • I think he's overbilling us.

  • Did your mother ever complain that Mr. Doyle overbilled his hours?

  • Hospitals are clearly overbilling Medicare and private insurance to pay for charity care.

    Blog text (27)
  • In 2008, InterDent signed a corporate integrity agreement after it was caught overbilling the government at some of its offices in California.

    Blog text (28)
  • He keeps overbilling us.

  • In addition to saving time, an invoice from Toggl can show the client you aren't overbilling on time.

    Blog text (1)

Synonyms

to rob
vsto overbill
  • Informal
73 6.4

To charge someone a much higher price than usual

is the standard term for charging too much, not necessarily informal or criminal
to overcharge
vsto overbill
18 3.4

To ask someone for more money than a fair price

is the neutral general term rather than informal
to pluck
vsto overbill
  • Archaic
14 9.9

To charge someone too much money

focuses on billing excess without implying deliberate swindle
to hook
vsto overbill
  • Informal
7 8.1

To charge someone too much money for something

is the neutral formal word used for charging too much
to gouge the customer
vsto overbill
1 8.2

Charge customers much more than is fair

covers charging too much generally, not only customers or price hikes
to gouge on
vsto overbill
9.1

Charge someone an unfairly high price

means charging more than the correct or agreed amount but less emphasis on dishonesty
to surcharge
vsto overbill
6.0

Add an extra fee to a price, often for a special service

refers to charging more than the correct amount rather than adding an extra fee

Antonyms

To charge someone less than the right amount for goods or services

How Excessive

to fleece
  • Informal
14 8.5
to overbill
2 6.1
to charge
808 2.0

Surface Forms

overbill infinitive
overbilled past
overbilled past participle
overbilling present participle
overbills third person singular

Morphology

overbill = bill (transparent) = over + bill

Formed by productive prefixation: 'over-' (excessively/too much) + 'bill' (to charge), so the meaning is directly inferable.

Etymology

The word overbill is made from over- meaning 'too much' and bill meaning 'a charge', and it is like the simpler word overcharge you may already know. So, to overbill someone is to put 'too much' on their bill, to charge more than the correct or agreed amount.