bail out

British  

verb

1. (intr) to make an emergency parachute jump from an aircraft

2. informal (tr) to help (a person, organization, etc) out of a predicament

   the government bailed the company out

3. informal (intr) to escape from a predicament

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bail out Idioms  

1. 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]

2. 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]

3. Jump out of an airplane, using a parachute. For example, When the second engine sputtered, the pilot decided to bail out . [c. 1930]

4. 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]

5. See make bail .

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Example Sentences

“Second is that this price strength is a warning sign that the Fed will have to do a massive easing to bail out the economy,” says LaFemina.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked if the Treasury Department has the ability to bail out Bitcoin, or to order U.S. banks to purchase the cryptocurrency.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

And if things go wrong it would fall to Belgium to bail out Euroclear.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025

Meanwhile, Jay Hatfield, chief executive and founder of Infrastructure Capital Advisors in New York, said “there’s no reason to bail out of this market, particularly during a seasonally strong period.”

From MarketWatch • Dec. 10, 2025

His bad eyes notwithstanding, he was climbing well and feeling stronger than he had since the beginning of the expedition, and, he explained, “I didn’t want to bail out prematurely.”

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• relieve
• rescue