idiom · neutral
foot the bill
/fʊt ðə ˈbɪl/FOOT·the·BILL
to pay for something, especially when you pay for others or for a whole bill
Examples
“When we went out, my boss insisted on footing the bill for dinner.”
“If the company refuses to help, taxpayers will have to foot the bill.”
“They always expect their parents to foot the bill for their education.”
Band 8 sentence
“When public services fail, governments often end up footing the bill, much to the taxpayers' frustration.”
Collocations
- foot the bill for something
- have someone foot the bill
Word family
Common mistakes
foot bill→foot the bill
to foot a bill for me→to foot the bill for me
Say it for a higher band
5pay the bill→6cover the cost→7+foot the bill
Synonyms
pick up the bill
Easily confused
pick up the bill
“Don't worry about your share—I'll pick up the bill this time.”
split the bill
“After dinner we decided to split the bill evenly.”
Related words
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In Money
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