Old Bill

noun

1. a policeman
2. the Old Bill
   functioning as plural policemen collectively or in general

Word History and Origins

Origin of Old Bill¹

C20: of uncertain origin: perhaps derived from the World War I cartoon of a soldier with a drooping moustache

Example Sentences

I am ready to believe that this is being done not merely as a favor to old Bill; likely there is some private polling that has convinced the campaign that this will be an asset.

From Slate

Clive Driscoll told the BBC: "People often said to me, there was a wall of silence. There was never a wall of silence. There was a wall of fear, though. And so if you were going to alert everybody, that this bloke has talked to the old bill, you are effectively, alerting the bad guys… and that cannot be good police work."

From BBC

Days later, the Senate revived the effort and inserted language from the old bill about personal pronouns in schools and government entities into the new bill that passed in both chambers this week.

From Seattle Times

Sources vary as to how old Bill Robinson was when he made the trip to Washington with Toney and took a job at the track.

From Washington Post

That portion of the audience not laughing in relieved recognition exploded in swift — and very personal — condemnation; various writers fell all over themselves to declare, on Twitter and Substack, their devotion to their own spouses and their pity for poor old Bill, who they assumed would be filing for divorce any minute.

From Los Angeles Times