bail out
Britishverb
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(intr) to make an emergency parachute jump from an aircraft
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informal (tr) to help (a person, organization, etc) out of a predicament
the government bailed the company out
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informal (intr) to escape from a predicament
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Empty water out of a boat, usually by dipping with a bucket or other container. For example, We had to keep bailing out water from this leaky canoe . [Early 1600s]
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Rescue someone in an emergency, especially a financial crisis of some kind, as in They were counting on an inheritance to bail them out . [ Colloquial ; 1900s]
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Jump out of an airplane, using a parachute. For example, When the second engine sputtered, the pilot decided to bail out . [c. 1930]
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Give up on something, abandon a responsibility, as in The company was not doing well, so John decided to bail out while he could still find another job . [Second half of 1900s]
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See make bail .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When funds go from first to worst, many people attracted at the latter stages of those ascents bail out and actually lose money.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
You cannot bail out the Titanic with a soup ladle.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Defense technology operations, along with aerospace and artificial intelligence, have flocked to California, even as retail and fast-food chains bail out of the Golden State.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
"That's what goalkeepers are there for, to bail out the defence when they get exploited," she told ITV.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
And together they’d convinced other Liberian friends to try out for the team, only to have them bail out when they realized they’d have to get their hair cut.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
