bailout

American  

[beyl-out] / ˈbeɪlˌaʊt /

Or bail-out

noun

bailouts plural

1. the act of parachuting from an aircraft, especially to escape a crash, fire, etc.

2. an instance of coming to the rescue, especially financially.

   a government bailout of a large company.

3. an alternative, additional choice, or the like.

   If the highway is jammed, you have two side roads as bailouts.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or consisting of means for relieving an emergency situation.

   bailout measures for hard-pressed smallbusinesses.

bailout British  

/ ˈbeɪlaʊt /

noun

1. an act of bailing out, usually by the government, of a failing institution or business

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bailouts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bailout

First recorded in 1950–55; noun and adjective use of the verb phrase bail out

Explanation

When a business is in financial trouble and the government helps them, that's a bailout. In 2008, the U.S. Treasury provided bailouts to several big banks, insurance companies, and car manufacturers. Anyone receiving much-needed financial assistance gets a bailout, but the term is most often used when a large institution or corporation needs cash and the government provides it. When they face the threat of bankruptcy and failure, businesses appeal for an infusion of money. If the companies are seen as vital to the country's economy or infrastructure, the government may offer a bailout. The maritime origin of bailout describes scooping (or bailing) water out of a sinking boat.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bailout bailouts

The worst-case outcome — a state emergency bailout loan — would result in Chait losing his job and the elected school board being stripped of power.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

And the Greenspan put, if there ever was such a thing, ran counter to that — as the Fed’s numerous bailout missteps in the years since Greenspan have demonstrated.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

The German government plans to cut its stake in Uniper to a minority position by the end of 2028, a condition of its 2022 bailout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

Spain's former Socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation for influence peddling and crimes allegedly committed in connection with the bailout of a small airline, a court said Tuesday.

From Barron's ● May 19, 2026

It was like a rerun of the first Coach bailout when he came and picked me up from school and I said pretty much those exact words.

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds

Perhaps, however, without the Greenspan era’s market bailouts.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

This is a little different from the car industry bailouts during the financial crisis, because nobody doubted that those companies would have strong demand for their services going forward.

From Slate ● May 5, 2026

The last 25 years have seen historic bailouts.

From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026

Big banks received massive bailouts in the 2008-09 financial crisis, prompting policymakers to impose higher capital requirements and other tightened controls designed to protect against a future crash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026

Jamaica's onerous   debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of   government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably   the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s.

From The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency