bail

/beɪl/

/beɪl/

Other forms: bailed; bailing; bails

Bail can be a verb or a noun. When you bail (verb) someone out of jail, you post money, also known as bail (noun), to assure the authorities that person won't try to run away before going to trial.

As a noun, bail means bond money. This comes from the Middle English word bayle, for "captivity." As a verb, the idea of "bailing out" comes from the later word baile, which means “dipping out,” a meaning you can use when you are trying to empty something flooded. If your boat has a leak, you should bail it out (then plug the leak). When you bail, in the colloquial sense, you escape in some way.

Definitions of bail

1. noun

   (criminal law) money that must be forfeited by the bondsman if an accused person fails to appear in court for trial
   “the judge set bail at $10,000”

   synonyms: bail bond, bond

   type of:

   recognisance, recognizance

   (law) a security entered into before a court with a condition to perform some act required by law; on failure to perform that act a sum is forfeited
2. noun

   the legal system that allows an accused person to be temporarily released from custody (usually on condition that a sum of money guarantees their appearance at trial)
   “he is out on bail”

   type of:

   legal system

   a system for interpreting and enforcing the laws
3. verb

   secure the release of (someone) by providing security
   type of:

   guarantee, vouch

   give surety or assume responsibility
4. verb

   release after a security has been paid
   type of:

   free, liberate, loose, release, unloose, unloosen

   grant freedom to; free from confinement
5. verb

   deliver something in trust to somebody for a special purpose and for a limited period
   type of:

   deliver, fork out, fork over, fork up, hand over, render, turn in

   to surrender someone or something to another
6. verb

   remove (water) from a vessel with a container
   type of:

   remove, take, take away, withdraw

   remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract
7. verb

   empty (a vessel) by bailing
   type of:

   empty

   make void or empty of contents