To meet all requirements: to come up to the mark.
1862. “Are you the celebrated Parson Brownlow?” “I’m the only man on earth,” I replied, “that fills the bill.”—N.Y. Herald, May 16. (From Bartlett, who by a strange error classes it under “Fill the bin.”)
1866. “Call him fat,” said I, “and you’ll fill the bill.”—C. H. Smith, ‘Bill Arp,’ p. 125.
1869. I wanted a horse that could shy, and this one fills the bill. I had an idea that shying indicated spirit.—Mark Twain, ‘The Innocents Abroad,’ chap. xlii.
1882. “Affable Imbecile” would about fill the bill for you.—Chicago Tribune, n.d. (N.E.D.)
1882. Walsh is the boss witness of the day, and hereafter should let himself out to lie by contract. No matter how great it may be, he will be able to fill the bill.—The Critic, Washington, July 25.
1889. The bayonet shank was the candlestick of the rank and file who used that implement. It was always available, and just “filled the bill” in other respects.—J. D. Billings, ‘Hardtack and Coffee,’ p. 77–8 (Boston).
