bail /beɪl/noun 13verb 12forms 3phrases 4 noun13 •money paid to let a person held by police leave, and lost if they do not come back to courtHe was granted bail for £20000. •Release from imprisonment on payment of such money. •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 •A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket). •A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace. •Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail. •A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.The bail of a canoe […] made of a human skull. — 1770 •A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).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. — 2011 •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.She had the next bail to me, and told me off in between bucketfuls of milk. — 1933 •(UK) The person providing such payment. •A person who bails water out of a boat. •(no longer used) Custody; keeping.Silly Faunus now within their baile. — 1590 verb12 •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 •To release a person under such guarantee. •To set free; to deliver; to release.Ne none there was to reskue her, ne none to baile. — 1596 •(slang) To leave or exit abruptly.With his engine in flames, the pilot had no choice but to bail. •To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.we had hard work to reach our haven, having to bail out the water with my straw hat. — 1857 •(informal) 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 — " — 1997 •To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out.By the help of a small bucket and our hats we bailed her out. — 1840 •(Australia, New-Zealand) 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 •(rare) To confine. •(Australia, New-Zealand) To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking. •To secure the head of a cow during milking. •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 formsbailed · bailing · bails Phrases with bail bail onTo abandon (someone or something). bail outTo remove water from a boat by scooping it out. bail out onTo abandon (someone or something). bail upTo apply a bail to (a cow); to trap or corner.
