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).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
The purpose of bail is to ensure the return of the accused at subsequent proceedings. If the accused is unable to make bail, he or she is detained in jail. 2011, Larry J. Siegel, Criminology, page 658:
He was granted bail for £20000.
The Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution forbids excessive bail, and state bail laws are usually designed to prevent discrimination in setting bail. 2009, George Cole with Christopher Smith, The American System of Criminal Justice, International Edition, page 338:
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. 1736 March 16 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Henry Fielding, Pasquin. A Dramatick Satire on the Times: […], London: […] J. Watts […], published 1736, →OCLC, Act I, page 1:
(UK, countable, uncountable) Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.
(UK, countable, uncountable) The person providing such payment.
(countable, uncountable) A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.
The bail of a canoe […] made of a human skull. 1770, James Cook, Voyages Round the World:
(countable, uncountable) A person who bails water out of a boat.
Silly Faunus now within their baile. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book VII, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
fi äyskäri (bucket or scoop) · ko 보석금 (security) · ar كَفَالَة (security) · it libertà provvisoria (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · ca fiança (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · ceb piyansa (security) · ga bannaí (security) · fr caution (security) · mi utu here (security) · sv borgen (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · es balde (bucket or scoop) · nl borgtocht (security) · ceb piyansa (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · bg гаранция (security) · hu óvadék (security) · hil piyansa (security) · ru зало́г (security) · bg кофа (bucket or scoop) · de Kaution (security) · fr libération sous caution (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · ko 보석 (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · es excarcelación so caución (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · sh vjedro (bucket or scoop) · tl panlimas (bucket or scoop) · fi äyskäröijä (person who bails) · ur ضمانت (security) · nl borgtocht (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · fa وثیقه (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · mi tīheru (bucket or scoop) · ang borg (security) · haw pēla (security) · da løsladelse mod kaution (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · vi tiền tại ngoại (security) · it cauzione (security) · fr caution (person providing such payment.) · fr écope (bucket or scoop) · ru залогодатель (person providing such payment.) · mi moni taurangi (security) · el εγγυητής (person providing such payment.) · fj inima (bucket or scoop) · fi takuusumma (security) · tl piyansa (security) · is trygging (security) · vi người đóng tiền tại ngoại (person providing such payment.) · tl piyansa (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · mk кауција (security) · tr kefalet (security) · pt balde (bucket or scoop) · ro cauțiune (security) · he ערבות (security) · cmn 保釋 /保释 (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · ca sàssola (bucket or scoop) · ja 保釈 (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · es fianza (security) · fi takaaja (person providing such payment.) · fi takuumies (person providing such payment.) · ur ضَمانَت (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · da kaution (security) · vi tại ngoại (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · mi utu here (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · tl lagak-panagot (security) · pt fiança (security) · it sassola (bucket or scoop) · mi moni taurangi (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · ja 保釈金 (security) · cy mechnïaeth (security) · eo kaŭcio (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · cmn 取保候審 /取保候审 (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · bg залог (security) · es libertad bajo fianza (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · mi tatā (bucket or scoop) · la vadimōnium (security) · fi takuut (security) · da kautionist (person providing such payment.) · pl kaucja (security) · cs kauce (security) · sv borgen (security) · pl czerpak (bucket or scoop) · cmn 保釋金 /保释金 (security) · pt fiador (person providing such payment.) · pt baldeador (person who bails) · sv borgenär (person providing such payment.) · pt caução (security) · bg ведро (bucket or scoop) · pt fiança (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · es caución (security) · vi tại ngoại hậu cứu (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · ru освобождение под залог (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · ca caució (security) · fr liberté sous caution (release from imprisonment on payment of such money) · el εγγύηση (security) · ms limas (bucket or scoop)
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).
Meanings
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. 2012 February 11, David Barrett, “Rupert Murdoch moves to reassure Sun staff after arrests”, in The Telegraph, UK:
To release a person under such guarantee.
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
(intransitive, transitive) 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. November 4, 1857, Henry William Harper, letter to St. John
‘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. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
(transitive) 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. 1840, Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, Chapter XVIII:
To set free; to deliver; to release.
Ne none there was to reskue her, ne none to baile. 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 7:
ms menimba (to remove water) · it sgottare (to remove water) · pt baldear (to remove water) · fj nimata (to remove water from by scooping) · mi tīheru (to remove water) · tl limasin (to remove water from by scooping) · pau melimet (to remove water) · ga taosc (to remove water from by scooping) · fi päästää vapaaksi takuita vastaan (legal: to release a person under such guarantee) · fi äyskäröidä (to remove water) · fj nimata (to remove water) · bg изгребвам (to remove water) · fi pantata (legal: to hand over personal property as a bailment) · de ausschöpfen (to remove water from by scooping) · fi maksaa takuut (to secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail) · de leerpumpen (to remove water) · ga taosc (to remove water) · es achicar (to remove water) · es excarcelar (to secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail) · grc ἀντλέω (to remove water) · ga taom (to remove water from by scooping) · fi vapauttaa (to set free) · fr écoper (to remove water) · tl limasin (to remove water) · de Kaution stellen (to secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail) · ga taom (to remove water) · fi äyskäröidä (to remove water from by scooping) · es desencarcelar (to secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail) · ru вычёрпывать (to remove water) · ru отчерпывать (to remove water)
From a shortening of bail out, ultimately same as above.
Meanings
(intransitive, slang) 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. 2010 September, Jeannette Cooperman, "Bringing It Home", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 62
(informal, intransitive) To fail to meet a commitment (to a person).
"We'll just tell Peter that you got called back to work. He bails on vacations all the time for that reason." 2010, Deborah Cooke, Whisper Kiss:
"No one bails on Bennie Milagros. No one, comprende? I'm gonna hold you to that midnight run — " 1997, Eric Lustbader, Dark homecoming:
A guy who bails on his young wife and son the way he did. Leaving us to fend for ourselves. 2010, David Handler, The Shimmering Blond Sister, page 119:
And I ain't got no help. Goddamn Fitch bails on me, scrambles over to Finance. 1999, Robert Draper, Hadrian's walls:
From Middle English beyle, from Old English bīeġels, from bīeġan + -els.
Meanings
A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).
I reached across beneath the cow to attach a metal bail to each end of the strap so that the bail hung about 5 inches below the cow's belly.[…]While stroking and talking to the cow, I reached under and suspended the machine on the bail beneath the cow, with its four suction cups dangling to one side. 2010, John M. Findley, Just Lucky, page 78:
A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).
2011, Edith H. Whetham, Joan Thirsk, The Agrarian History of England and Wales, Volume 8: Volumes 1914-1939, page 191,
Ten men thus sufficed for the milking of three hundred cows in five bails, instead of the thirty men who would normally have been employed by conventional methods.
1953, British Institute of Management, Centre for Farm Management, Farm Management Association, Farm Management, 1960, John Wiley, page 160,
More recently, the fixed bail, sometimes called the ‘milking parlour’, with either covered or open yards, has had a certain vogue and some very enthusiastic claims have been made for this method of housing.
A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.
(Australia, New-Zealand) A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.
But until he had poured enough milk into the vat above the separator, I drove unmilked cows into the bail where he had previously milked and released one. He moved from one bail to the other to milk the next one I had readied. I drove each cow into the empty bail, chained her in, roped the outer hind leg then washed and massaged the udder and teats. 2011, Bob Ellis, Hush Now, Don't Cry, page 153:
She had the next bail to me, and told me off in between bucketfuls of milk. 1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 27:
A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.
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. 2019 July 14, Stephan Shemilt, “England win Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes stars in dramatic finale against New Zealand”, in BBC Sport, London:
Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.
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bails
Number=Plur
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Translations (7)
fi palikka (in cricket - crosspiece on top of the stump to form a wicket) · mi pērapu (A frame to restrain an animal) · unm sënapi (hoop, ring or handle) · gu ચકલી (in cricket - crosspiece on top of the stump to form a wicket) · fr anse (hoop, ring or handle) · fi sanka (hoop, ring or handle) · mi kapi (in cricket - crosspiece on top of the stump to form a wicket)
(Australia, New-Zealand) To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.
(Australia, New-Zealand, usually, with-up) 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. 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 128:
While celebrating our “graduation”, a handsome Scot bailed me up outside a pub and insisted I help him solve the cryptic crossword. 2023 January 31, Clem Bastow, “My bad trip – I met a handsome Scot with a crossword and thought it was true love”, in The Guardian:
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bails
Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres
lexicographic
bailed
Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part
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bailed
Tense=Past
lexicographic
bailing
Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part
lexicographic
Translations (1)
mi pērapu (To secure an animal before performing some action on it)