Definition of bills:
(n) :
any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a
weapon of
infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries. A common form of bill consisted of a
broad,
heavy,
double-
edged, hook-shaped
blade, having a short
pike at the back and another at the top, and attached to the end of a long
staff; a
cutting
instrument, with
hook-
shaped
point, and
fitted with a
handle, used in
pruning, etc.; a
billhook
"1786: In the British Museum there is an entry of a warrant, granted to Nicholas Spicer, authorising him to impress smiths for making two thousand Welch bills or glaives. -- Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons."
"1599: As the ox hath his bow, sir, the horse his curb and the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires; and as pigeons bill, so wedlock would be nibbling."