shilling

noun

shil·ling | \ ˈshi-liŋ

How to pronounce shilling (audio)

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Definition of shilling

1a : 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

In 2018, Beijing gave Akhulia's team 800 million Kenyan shillings (roughly $7.8 million) to roll out the 10,000 Villages project in Kenya. — CNN, "How China is slowly expanding its power in Africa, one TV set at a time," 23 July 2019 When Libra is sold by a local agent in a country like Kenya, for instance, the Kenyan shillings traded for Libra would in turn have to be traded in for something acceptable to the Libra reserve. — David Z. Morris, Fortune, "Facebook’s Libra Currency Could Threaten the Global Financial System. Here’s How," 18 July 2019 In 2010-11 the city collected just 30bn shillings (see chart). — The Economist, "How African cities can pay for their own upkeep," 5 Apr. 2018 Photo: Tommy Trenchard for The Wall Street Journal Clients pay Mr. Abdirahman in Somaliland shillings. — Matina Stevis-gridneff, WSJ, "An Isolated Country Runs on Mobile Money," 8 July 2018 The yield on Kenya’s Eurobonds due 2024 fell six basis points to 6.35 percent, while the shilling strengthened 0.1 percent to 101.10 per dollar by 1:50 p.m. in Nairobi. — Bloomberg.com, "Political Crisis Eases as Kenya's Odinga Vows to End Dissent," 9 Mar. 2018 Ugandans will have to cough up 200 Ugandan shillings ($0.05) a day to use popular platforms like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp. — Damilola Odutayo, CNN, "People in Uganda now have to pay tax to use WhatsApp and other social media," 1 June 2018 Participation ranges at the extremes, from the preaching of zealots to shilling and promotion by corporate representatives. — Eve Macsweeney, Vogue, "Inside the Copenhagen Fashion Summit: Well-Dressed Danes and Why You Shouldn’t Wear Spandex," 17 May 2018 In the summer of 1600 she was indicted at Middlesex Sessions for stealing two shillings and eleven pence. — Longreads, "The Roaring Girls of Queer London," 8 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'shilling.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Statistics for shilling

Last Updated

1 Aug 2019

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Time Traveler for shilling

The first known use of shilling was before the 12th century

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More Definitions for shilling

shilling

noun

English Language Learners Definition of shilling

: a British coin used before 1971 that was equal to ¹/₂₀ of a British pound

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

See the full definition for shilling in the English Language Learners Dictionary

shilling

noun

shil·ling | \ ˈshi-liŋ

\

Kids Definition of shilling

: an old British coin equal to ¹/₂₀ pound

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to make or get by devious means

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