Brady Dennis
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Initially, "bilking" wasn't considered cheating-just good strategy for cribbage players. Language historians aren't sure where "bilk" originated, but they have noticed that its earliest uses occur in contexts referring to cribbage. Part of the scoring in cribbage involves each player adding cards from his or her hand to a pile of discards called the "crib." At the end of a hand, the dealer gets any points in the crib. Strategically, then, it's wisest for the dealer's opponent to discard non-scoring cards-the ones most likely to "balk," or put a check on, the dealer's score. Etymologists theorize that "bilk" may have originated as an alteration of that card-game "balk."
Synonyms
Examples of bilk in a Sentence
Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
In that fraud case — the largest in California’s recent history — charter operators manipulated student attendance records and funding to bilk the state of $400 million in public school dollars.
—Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Mar. 2024
Jimmy Jenkins More than a dozen people have filed a lawsuit claiming they were collectively bilked out of more than $1 million after they were drugged at East Valley strip clubs.
—The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2024
His guilty plea to charges filed in January followed the conviction of the first BSO employee to face trial on charges of bilking the Paycheck Protection Program.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024
In 2023, consumers lost $1.14 billion to romance scams, which bilk people out of money for love, according to new information released Friday by the Federal Trade Commission.
—USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024
Officials believe the scheme bilked the state out of millions of dollars, and it’s being investigated by state and federal officials, including the FBI and the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
—Seth Klamann, The Denver Post, 31 Jan. 2024
State prosecutors have alleged in court that dozens of people and companies fraudulently posed as addiction counseling services, bilking the state Medicaid program out of $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion for services never provided.
—Alexandra Hardle, The Arizona Republic, 26 Feb. 2024
Inside a generic government-office conference room in downtown Indianapolis, Caitlin Bernard sat before six members of Indiana’s Medical Licensing Board, whose cases typically involve complaints against physicians who bilked a patient or drove while drunk.
—Peter Slevin, The New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2024
Yvonne Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 17 May 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bilk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bilk
Cite this Entry
“Bilk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bilk. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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