Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Bail   /beɪl/   Listen
noun
Bail  n.  A bucket or scoop used in bailing water out of a boat. (Obs.) "The bail of a canoe... made of a human skull."


Bail  n.  
1.
Custody; keeping. (Obs.) "Silly Faunus now within their bail."
2.
(Law)
(a)
The person or persons who procure the release of a prisoner from the custody of the officer, or from imprisonment, by becoming surety for his appearance in court. "The bail must be real, substantial bondsmen." "A. and B. were bail to the arrest in a suit at law."
(b)
The security given for the appearance of a prisoner in order to obtain his release from custody of the officer; as, the man is out on bail; to go bail for any one. "Excessive bail ought not to be required."


Bail  n.  
1.
The arched handle of a kettle, pail, or similar vessel, usually movable.
2.
A half hoop for supporting the cover of a carrier's wagon, awning of a boat, etc.


Bail  n.  
1.
(Usually pl.) A line of palisades serving as an exterior defense. (Written also bayle) (Obs.)
2.
The outer wall of a feudal castle. Hence: The space inclosed by it; the outer court.
3.
A certain limit within a forest. (Eng.)
4.
A division for the stalls of an open stable.
5.
(Cricket) The top or cross piece (or either of the two cross pieces) of the wicket.


verb
Bail  v. t.  (past & past part. bailed; pres. part. bailing)  
1.
To lade; to dip and throw; usually with out; as, to bail water out of a boat. "Buckets... to bail out the water."
2.
To dip or lade water from; often with out to express completeness; as, to bail a boat. "By the help of a small bucket and our hats we bailed her out."


Bail  v. t.  
1.
To deliver; to release. (Obs.) "Ne none there was to rescue her, ne none to bail."
2.
(Law)
(a)
To set free, or deliver from arrest, or out of custody, on the undertaking of some other person or persons that he or they will be responsible for the appearance, at a certain day and place, of the person bailed. Note: The word is applied to the magistrate or the surety. The magistrate bails (but admits to bail is commoner) a man when he liberates him from arrest or imprisonment upon bond given with sureties. The surety bails a person when he procures his release from arrest by giving bond for his appearance.
(b)
To deliver, as goods in trust, for some special object or purpose, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee, or person intrusted; as, to bail cloth to a tailor to be made into a garment; to bail goods to a carrier.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Bail" Quotes from Famous Books



... him? This brute, Baraja, as well as Oroche, were both drunk with mezcal; and Diaz refused to assist me, point-blank. While I was endeavouring to arouse the other two, the fellow had taken leg bail through an opening in the wall of the garden—at least that's ...
— Wood Rangers - The Trappers of Sonora • Mayne Reid
... surprised. "Of course he did. What's a guard for in the Army, if it can't enforce its orders? And it was past midnight when we finally got an officer, by telephone, to come over and go bail for his colonel's identity. Then, of course, ...
— Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks - or, Two Recruits in the United States Army • H. Irving Hancock
... cargo of a captured or detained vessel is not allowed to be taken on bail before adjudication without mutual consent. It was also a northern term for ...
— The Sailor's Word-Book • William Henry Smyth
... and put them into stone jars, (two-thirds full,) with layers of brown sugar, and fill them up with cold molasses. They will keep all winter; and they make good common pies. If they incline to ferment in the jars, give them a bail with additional sugar. ...
— Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches • Eliza Leslie
... out, or even if it should appear probable, that the alleged crime has in fact been perpetrated by the defendant, he must either be committed to prison, there to be kept, in safe custody, until the sitting of the court before which the trial is to be heard; or, he may be allowed to give bail—that is, to put in securities for his appearance to answer the charge against him. In either of these alternatives, whether the accused be committed or held to bail, it is the duty of the magistrate to subscribe ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV. • Various


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com