Bill (redirected from fit the bill)

beak

 or bill

Stiff, projecting oral structure of birds and turtles (both of which lack teeth) and certain other animals (e.g., cephalopods and some insects, fishes, and mammals). The term bill is preferred for the beak of a bird, which is composed of upper and lower jaws covered by a horny sheath of skin, with the nostrils on top, usually at the base. The shapes and sizes of bills are adapted for obtaining food, preening, building nests, and other functions; they range from the long, slim bills of nectar-sipping hummingbirds to the sturdy, curved, nut-cracking bills of parrots.

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bill¹

1. a statute in draft, before it becomes law

2. Law See bill of indictment

3. See bill of exchange

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bill²

1. the mouthpart of a bird, consisting of projecting jaws covered with a horny sheath; beak. It varies in shape and size according to the type of food eaten and may also be used as a weapon

2. any beaklike mouthpart in other animals

3. a narrow promontory

4. Nautical the pointed tip of the fluke of an anchor

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bill [bil]

(design engineering)

One blade of a pair of scissors.

(invertebrate zoology)

A flattened portion of the shell margin of the broad end of an oyster.

(naval architecture)

The point at the end of an anchor fluke.

(vertebrate zoology)

The jaws, together with the horny covering, of a bird.

(zoology)

Any jawlike mouthpart.

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Bill 

(also beak), an organ of birds formed by elongated, toothless mandibles covered with a hornlike sheath, or ramphotheca, which grows continuously. The ramphotheca of some birds is seasonally cast off (for example, birds of the family Tetraonidae). In the embryo of birds a sharp bony protuberance, the egg tooth, temporarily appears near the upper portion of the bill. The egg tooth assists in opening the shell during hatching. In many birds the base of the upper portion of the bill is covered with a waxy substance.

The size and shape of the bill varies in different birds. For some birds the bill assures the capture and, at times, dismemberment of prey; for other birds, the ability to peck and dig. The bill is used to carry out other complex functions, such as the cleaning of feathers and the building of nests. This diversity of functions is made possible by the mobility of the upper portion of the bill, which can be moved up and down or bent in the middle.

Bill-like formations are also found in several mammals (of the subclass Prototheria), reptiles (turtles), and cephalopodan mollusks.

F. IA. DZERZHINSKII