shilling

noun

shil·​ling ˈshi-liŋ 

1

a

: a former monetary unit of the United Kingdom equal to 12 pence or 1/20 pound

b

: a former monetary unit equal to 1/20 pound of any of various countries in or formerly in the Commonwealth of Nations

2

: a coin representing one shilling

3

: any of several early American coins

4

: the basic monetary unit of Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda see Money Table

Examples of shilling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The date stood out to Browning, who’d lost thousands in anticipated shillings when 584 steerage and 253 second-class passengers chose drowning in a Canadian river over registering at one of his boarding houses near the port of Liverpool. — Claire Carusillo, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

That era involved small cliques of devs talking a big game about decentralization (which often provided a pretext for no accountability) while shilling tokens at all turns. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 20 July 2026

After Rogers left his job at the store, husband and wife had a go at a similar scheme, shilling aluminum cookware for the company Wear-Ever Aluminum (still extant as WearEver Cookware). — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 15 July 2026

The earliest currencies on display are pine tree shillings from 1652, while the earliest paper currency in the exhibit dates back to the 18th century. — Sean Conlon, CNBC, 3 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English scilling; akin to Old High German skilling, a gold coin

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for shilling

• billing
• chilling
• drilling
• filling
• grilling
• killing
• milling
• pilling
• rilling
• schilling
• skilling
• spilling

Kids Definition

shilling

noun

shil·​ling ˈshil-iŋ 

1

: a former unit of British money equal to ¹⁄₂₀ pound

2

: a coin equal to ¹⁄₂₀ pound in any of several countries of the Commonwealth of Nations

3

: any of several early American coins

4

a

: the basic unit of money of Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda

b

: a coin representing this unit