bilking

verb

present participle of bilk
as in cheating
to rob by the use of trickery or threats an investigation revealed that the garage had been bilking motorists for repairs that had never been made

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bilking Sophisticated online fraud schemes, operating from industrial-scale scam centers in Southeast Asia, are bilking Americans out of billions of dollars each year. — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 8 Aug. 2026 Through letters, Ulisses charms lonely women, bilking them of money and possessions. — Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026 Elsaid is accused of bilking the medical assistance program out of over $182,000, while Agwa is accused of swindling over $94,000 from the program. — Riley Moser, CBS News, 23 June 2026 In 2019, a couple was charged with embezzlement and exploiting the elderly for bilking buyers in six Western North Carolina counties out of millions of dollars for log homes. — Amber Gaudet, Charlotte Observer, 14 May 2026 Murdaugh, 57, will remain in prison, however, after being sentenced on dozens of state and federal charges for bilking millions from his former law firm and clients for more than a decade. — Pilar Melendez, NBC news, 14 May 2026 Yassin and Stevens are the first drivers to face any criminal repercussions for allegedly bilking the program. — Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2026 Former Jackson Health Foundation COO Charmaine Gatlin pled guilty to bilking millions in charity funds. — Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 15 Dec. 2025 Holmes was convicted in 2022 of four counts of felony fraud for bilking investors in her now-defunct Palo Alto blood-testing startup out of hundreds of millions of dollars via false claims about the technology. — Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 3 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bilking
  1. cheating
  2. squeezing
  3. hustling
  4. plucking
  5. stinging
  6. screwing
  7. defrauding
  8. beating
Verb
  • In March, the owner of a Colorado funeral home was sentenced to 18 years in prison for mishandling nearly 190 dead bodies, cheating customers and defrauding the federal government through loan applications.
    — Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Trump has been accused of cheating at golf many times, but some pro golfers have praised his game.
    — Tom D'Angelo, USA Today, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of cheating
Verb
  • Washington is trying to choke Iran's ability to get its crude out while Tehran is squeezing the artery through which everybody else's crude gets through.
    — Frank Andrews, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Chances are you answer emails while sitting in meetings, listen to podcasts while exercising, scroll your phone while standing in line and congratulate ourselves for squeezing more into every hour.
    — Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of squeezing
Verb
  • Besides Instagram hustling and scouring job boards, entrepreneurial editors find gigs when creators call out for help.
    — Andrew Zucker, HollywoodReporter, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Devers, who finished with three hits, eschewed his power for small ball in the fifth, laying down a surprise bunt for a single, then hustling home on Susac’s sacrifice fly.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 31 July 2026
Definition of hustling
Verb
  • Dramatic photos taken from the scene show a firefighter on a tower ladder plucking a panicked child from a fire escape.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Now, Yupia appears on Khramov’s debut album, where the horse literally makes music by strumming guitars with his nose and plucking strings with his teeth.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of plucking
Verb
  • The downside is that the active ingredients can trigger stinging, breakouts or reactions in people with sensitive skin.
    — Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 30 July 2026
  • The 21-year-old grows more confident when starting on the left wing, stinging the outside of Rosenborg’s goalpost wth a solid effort in the 28th minute.
    — Carl Anka, New York Times, 25 July 2026
Definition of stinging
Verb
  • The breeze was screwing with the sound system, and the temperature dropped abruptly.
    — Lily Goldberg, Pitchfork, 26 June 2026
  • America’s favorite sport is not football, or soccer, but screwing over sports fans, which is why FIFA should hold its World Cup in the United States permanently.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 June 2026
Definition of screwing
Verb
  • Connor likens this case, about schools defrauding borrowers, to the historic settlement against Big Tobacco.
    — Cory Turner, NPR, 31 July 2026
  • Jason Cloth, a Canadian financier with executive producer credits on dozens of films like Joker, Licorice Pizza and House of Gucci, has been indicted for allegedly defrauding investors out of $100 million.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2026
Definition of defrauding
Verb
  • Even had Guardiola stayed on, City would probably be playing a more direct brand of football next season, with players more suited to beating a man and covering ground than playing a thousand million passes.
    — Sam Lee, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026
  • He was initially handed a 3 1/2-year sentence in 2022 when he was convicted of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of beating

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Cite this Entry

“Bilking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bilking. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of bilking for Spanish Speakers

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