Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Bail

Bail (bāl), n. [F. baille a bucket, pail; cf. LL. bacula, dim. of bacca a sort of vessel. Cf. Bac.] A bucket or scoop used in bailing water out of a boat. [Obs.]

The bail of a canoe . . . made of a human skull. Capt. Cook.

Bail, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bailed (bāld); p. pr. & vb. n. 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. Capt. J. Smith.

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. R. H. Dana, Jr.

Bail, v. t. [OF. bailler to give, to deliver, fr. L. bajulare to bear a burden, keep in custody, fr. bajulus he who bears burdens.] 1. To deliver; to release. [Obs.]

Ne none there was to rescue her, ne none to bail. Spenser.

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.

☞ 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. Blackstone.

(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. Blackstone. Kent.

Bail, n. [OF. bail guardian, administrator, fr. L. bajulus. See Bail to deliver.] 1. Custody; keeping. [Obs.]

Silly Faunus now within their bail. Spenser.

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. Blackstone.

A. and B. were bail to the arrest in a suit at law. Kent.

(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. Blackstone.

Bail, n. [OE. beyl; cf. Dan. böile a bending, ring, hoop, Sw. bögel, bygel, and Icel. beyla hump, swelling, akin to E. bow to bend.] 1. The arched handle of a kettle, pail, or similar vessel, usually movable. Forby.

2. A half hoop for supporting the cover of a carrier's wagon, awning of a boat, etc.

Bail, n. [OF. bail, baille. See Bailey.] 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. Holinshed.

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.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.