fit the bill
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Be suitable for a particular purpose.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Yeah but it does rather sort of fit the bill doesn't it.
Buchan fitted the bill perfectly; he was an experienced, thoughtful player who was always seeking to improve his performance and working out moves for the next game.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “fit the bill” mean?
Be suitable for a particular purpose.
Is “fit the bill” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.