English
bail
see also: Bail
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /beɪ̯l/, [ˈbeɪ̯(ə)ɫ], [beə̯ɫ]
Noun

bail (plural bails)

  1. Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
  2. (legal, UK) Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.
  3. (legal, UK) The person providing such payment.
  4. A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.
    • The bail of a canoe […] made of a human skull.
  5. A person who bails water out of a boat.
  6. (obsolete) Custody; keeping.
    • Silly Faunus now within their bail.
Related terms Translations Translations
  • French: libération sous caution, liberté sous caution
  • Italian: libertà provvisoria
  • Portuguese: fiança
  • Russian: освобождение под залог
  • Spanish: fianza
Translations
  • French: caution
  • Russian: залогодатель
Translations Verb

bail (bails, present participle bailing; past and past participle bailed)

  1. To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.
  2. (legal) To release a person under such guarantee.
  3. (legal) 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
  4. (nautical, transitive) To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.
    to bail water out of a boat
    • buckets […] to bail out the water
  5. (nautical, 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.
  6. To set free; to deliver; to release.
    • Ne none there was to rescue her, ne none to bail.
Related terms Translations
  • French: écoper
  • Italian: sgottare
  • Russian: отчерпывать
  • Spanish: achicar
Verb

bail (bails, present participle bailing; past and past participle bailed)

  1. (slang) To exit quickly.
    With his engine in flames, the pilot had no choice but to bail.
    • 2010 September, Jeannette Cooperman, "Bringing It Home", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 62:
      The Teacher Home Visit Program takes a huge commitment—time, energy, patience, diplomacy. Quite a few schools […] have tried it and bailed.
  2. (informal) To fail to meet a commitment.
Noun

bail (plural bails)

  1. A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).
    • 2010, John M. Findley, Just Lucky, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=FSOymnyAhnQC&pg=PA78&dq=%22bail|bails%22+cow+milk&hl=en&ei=zmvGTqKPIuzDmQWV1oUn&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22bail|bails%22%20cow%20milk&f=false page 78],
      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.
  2. A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).
    • 1953, British Institute of Management, Centre for Farm Management, Farm Management Association, Farm Managememt, 1960, John Wiley, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=NJsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA160&dq=%22bail|bails%22+cow+milk&hl=en&ei=zmvGTqKPIuzDmQWV1oUn&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22bail|bails%22%20cow%20milk&f=false 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.
    • 2011, Edith H. Whetham, Joan Thirsk, The Agrarian History of England and Wales, Volume 8: Volumes 1914-1939, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Ibfi17Br0AkC&pg=PA191&dq=%22bail|bails%22+cow+milk&hl=en&ei=zmvGTqKPIuzDmQWV1oUn&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 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.
  3. A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.
  4. (chiefly, Australia and New Zealand) A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.
    • 2011, Bob Ellis, Hush Now, Don't Cry, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Zgm4w0L4nwUC&pg=PA153&dq=%22bail|bails%22+cow+milk&hl=en&ei=5FzGTtXSIO_xmAWTmvwf&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22bail|bails%22%20cow%20milk&f=false page 153],
      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.
  5. A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.
  6. (cricket) One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.
  7. (furniture) Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.
Translations Verb

bail (bails, present participle bailing; past and past participle bailed)

  1. To secure the head of a cow during milking.
Verb

bail (bails, present participle bailing; past and past participle bailed)

  1. (rare) To confine.
  2. (Australia, New Zealand) To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.
  3. (Australia, New Zealand) To keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them; to corner (a wild animal); loosely, to detain, hold up. (Usually with up.)
    • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 128:
      The transition over the rooftop would have been quicker if Sellers had not been bailed up by a particularly hostile spiritual presence speaking Swedish.
Bail
Proper noun
  1. Surname


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