Skip to content
Vinony

bilk

verb

  1. swindle
L16149 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /bɪlk/

noun

Etymology: Uncertain; perhaps a variant form of balk.

  1. The spoiling of someone's score in the crib.
  2. A deception, a hoax.
  3. A cheat or swindler.

verb

Etymology: Uncertain; perhaps a variant form of balk.

  1. To spoil the score of (someone) in cribbage.
  2. To do someone out of their due; to deceive or defraud, to cheat (someone).

    “They also perpetrate nonviolent crimes like bilking elderly couples out of their life savings and running a business with ruthless disregard for the welfare of the workforce or stakeholders.”

    “Mr. Gallagher, who went by the nickname Doc, pleaded guilty on Aug. 31 to several charges connected to what prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme that lasted nearly 10 years and bilked older people of their retirement savings.”

  3. To steal fuel from a self-service filling station by driving away without paying after filling the fuel tank or other container; to commit a drive-off.
  4. To evade, elude.