bail
/beɪl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms bails bailing bailed
- noun (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. “He was granted bail for £20000.”
- noun (law, UK) Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.
- noun (law, UK) The person providing such payment.
- noun A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.
- noun A person who bails water out of a boat.
- noun (obsolete) Custody; keeping.
- verb To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.
- verb (law) To release a person under such guarantee.
- verb (law) 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”
- verb (nautical, transitive, intransitive) To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out. “to bail water out of a boat”
- verb (nautical, transitive) To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out. “to bail a boat”
- verb To set free; to deliver; to release.
- verb (intransitive, slang) To leave or exit abruptly. “With his engine in flames, the pilot had no choice but to bail.”
- verb (intransitive, informal) To fail to meet a commitment (to a person). [with on ‘someone’]
- noun A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).
- noun A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).
- noun A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.
- noun (chiefly Australia and New Zealand) A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.
- noun A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.
- noun (cricket) One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.
Synonyms
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).
From a shortening of bail out, ultimately same as above.
From Middle English beyle, from Old English bīeġels, from bīeġan + -els.
Borrowed from French baillier.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A bucket or scoop used in bailing water out of a boat. [Obs.]
- verb To lade; to dip and throw; --usually with out; as, to bail water out of a boat.
- verb To dip or lade water from; --often with out to express completeness; as, to bail a boat.
- verb To deliver; to release. [Obs.]
Etymology [F. baille a bucket, pail; cf. LL. bacula, dim. of bacca a sort of vessel. Cf. Bac.]
Etymology [OF. bailler to give, to deliver, fr. L. bajulare to bear a burden, keep in custody, fr. bajulus 1. To deliver; to release. [Obs.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bail”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details