top billing
7
6.2
- noun
:
primer lugar
- In the upcoming action movie, the star actor received top billing on the promotional posters.
- get top billing
- gave top billing
- share top billing
Examples
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In only three of the films does a woman receive top billing (Anne Bancroft, Ali McGraw, Ellen Burstyn)...
Blog text (29) -
I had top billing in that film, it was my comeback.
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I would want top billing.
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In my movie, darling, you get top billing.
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At least you get top billing.
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Walker always gets top billing.
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There are, in fact, 3 Asian actors in the top billing for the film.
Blog text (4) -
And he gave me new costumes, and top billing, and four pounds a week raise.
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He even gives you top billing.
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I knew she wasn't worth top billing.
Synonyms
24
4.6
A performer who is the main act at a show
1
5.8
An important credit that names the main actor in a show
Antonyms
How Prominent
7
6.2
3
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The element 'top' clearly signals highest or most prominent, so a learner could guess the phrase relates to prominence. However, 'billing' here uses a specific industry sense (the order/listing of names in advertisements or credits) that many B1 learners may not know or may confuse with 'billing' = charging, so the full meaning is not fully predictable from the parts.
Etymology
The noun top billing may come from old theater posters and playbills. On these posters the billing was the list of actors and the name at the top was the most important, so having 'top billing' came to mean 'to be listed first' or to get the highest recognition.