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bail

noun
/beɪl/

Etymology

From Middle English baille, from the Old French verb bailler (“to deliver or hand over”) and noun bail (“lease”), from Latin bāiulāre (“carry or bear”), from baiulus (“porter; steward”) (English: bailiff).

  1. derived from bāiulō — “carry or bear”
  2. inherited from baille

Definitions

  1. Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a…

    Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.

    • He was granted bail for £20000.
    • I ſuppoſe vve ſhall hardly Rehearſe the Comedy this Morning; for the Author vvas Arreſted as he vvas going home from King's Coffee-houſe; and, as I heard, it vvas for upvvards of Four Pound: I ſuppoſe he vvill hardly get Bail.
    • The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution forbids excessive bail, and state bail laws are usually designed to prevent discrimination in setting bail.

  2. Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.

  3. The person providing such payment.

  4. ›+ 23 more definitions

    1. A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.

      • The bail of a canoe […] made of a human skull.

    2. A person who bails water out of a boat.

    3. Custody

      Custody; keeping.

      • Silly Faunus now within their baile.

    4. To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.

      • For the first time, the arrests broadened beyond payments to police, with a Ministry of Defence employee and a member of the Armed forces held by police before also being bailed to a date in May.

    5. To release a person under such guarantee.

    6. To hand over personal property to be held temporarily by another as a bailment.

      • to bail cloth to a tailor to be made into a garment; to bail goods to a carrier

    7. To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.

      • to bail water out of a boat
      • we had hard work to reach our haven, having to bail out the water with my straw hat.
      • ‘Bail out! bail out!’ yelled Job, ‘or we shall founder.’ I seized a large tin bowl with a handle to it, which was fixed under one of the seats, and the three of us bailed away for dear life.

    8. To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out.

      • to bail a boat
      • By the help of a small bucket and our hats we bailed her out.

    9. To set free

      To set free; to deliver; to release.

      • Ne none there was to reskue her, ne none to baile.

    10. To leave or exit abruptly.

      • With his engine in flames, the pilot had no choice but to bail.
      • The Teacher Home Visit Program takes a huge commitment—time, energy, patience, diplomacy. Quite a few schools […] have tried it and bailed.

    11. To fail to meet a commitment (to a person).

      • "No one bails on Bennie Milagros. No one, comprende? I'm gonna hold you to that midnight run — "
      • And I ain't got no help. Goddamn Fitch bails on me, scrambles over to Finance.
      • A guy who bails on his young wife and son the way he did. Leaving us to fend for ourselves.

    12. A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).

    13. A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).

    14. A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.

    15. A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.

    16. A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.

    17. One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.

      • As Jason Roy's throw came in from deep mid-wicket, a diving Guptill was short when Buttler removed the bails, sending England and the whole of Lord's into delirious celebrations.

    18. Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a…

      Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.

    19. To secure the head of a cow during milking.

    20. To confine.

    21. To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.

    22. To keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them

      To keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them; to corner (a wild animal); loosely, to detain, hold up.

      • The transition over the rooftop would have been quicker if Sellers had not been bailed up by a particularly hostile spiritual presence speaking Swedish.
      • While celebrating our “graduation”, a handsome Scot bailed me up outside a pub and insisted I help him solve the cryptic crossword.

    23. A surname.

The neighborhood

Derived

anticipatory bail, bail bandit, bail bond, bail bondsman, bail in, bail-in, bailjumping, bail jumping, bail on, bail-out, bail out on, bail-piece, bailpiece, bailsman, bail up, go bail, Jew bail, jump bail, jump one's bail, leg bail, no-bail, no bail, on bail, out on bail, straw bail, wire bail, bailable, bailee, bailer, bailment, bailor, bail out, bailout, rebail, unbailed

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bail. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA