as in cheated
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
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Recent Examples of bilked
In one scheme, prosecutors say dozens of scammers bilked more than $250 million from a federal program meant to feed hungry children in what has been described as the largest pandemic-era fraud scheme in the country.
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N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
That's primarily a reference to online scams perpetrated by organized crime that have bilked victims around the world of billions of dollars each year.
—CBS News, 27 Dec. 2025
Prosecutors say criminals also bilked millions of dollars from Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services program — which pays for help finding and keeping housing — as well as the state’s autism-services program by billing for appointments, therapy and casework that never took place.
—Michael Dorgan, FOXNews.com, 7 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bilked
Verb
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The tension resurfaced when her sister discovered her partner had cheated again and asked to stay at the poster’s home with both children.—
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Every town has its nostalgic spots—ice cream shops, deli counters, old-school diners—that seem to have cheated time.—
Verb
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An all-star cast plucked from different corners of the pop culture firmament leads Ryan Murphy's All's Fair, a Hulu legal drama about female divorce attorneys who open their own practice.—
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Such is life in Marthaland, where homemaking tasks are plucked from the realm of everyday drudgery and elevated to a pure pursuit of excellence.—
Verb
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Mountain View Fire Rescue hustled to get to a fire caused by a power pole that blew down.—
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My mother—an incredible single mom of four kids—just hustled.—
Verb
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Tuesday’s loss in Orlando stung a little more for the Miami Heat than the usual December loss during a long 82-game regular season.—
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But still, some losses have stung harder than others.—
Verb
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The Panthers squeezed a few end-of-career seasons out of guys such as Dino Ciccarelli and Igor Larionov.—
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Steamer or Iron When squeezed into a small suitcase, clothes have a tendency to wrinkle.—
Verb
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Authorities said Kates defrauded the state Department of Labor of $217,056 by filing fraudulent unemployment applications with the agency for her family, acquaintances, and others, from March 2020 through May 2021.—
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Things eventually come to a head back in Cairo, where local police arrest Roper and his team, only for the enraged buyers, who were defrauded due to Pine's intervention, to seize the convoy.—
Verb
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If Jay had said no, I would have been screwed.—
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For safety reasons, the battery box in a unicorn toy is hidden or screwed into place.—
Verb
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In 2016, it was revealed that a con man had swindled Nicole out of $10 million.—
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Black residents who got swindled out of land could not turn to the courts.—
Cite this Entry
“Bilked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bilked. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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