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three-dollar bill

DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

1 — Obs.

a provincial bank-note worth three dollars.

Quotations

1813

. . . the above sum [shall] be struck off in the following manner, viz. The sum of twelve hundred & fifty pounds in three Dollar Bills, two hundred and fifty pounds in Dollar bills, and two hundred and fifty pounds in half Dollar Bills.

2 — Figurative use

(in expressions indicating that something is non-existent, scarce, or spurious).

Quotations

1953

Then there is the abolition of radio license fees; but radio licenses are as scarce as $3 bills in the Territories!

1967

"[The] remark [made] recently by Ralph Cowan, 'a phony three dollar bill,' in connection with this being a bilingual country . . . is true."