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

For Western competitors, it has meant more tension, squeezing their profits and forcing some to consolidate or bail out of certain markets.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 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

That doesn’t mean investors should bail out of stocks.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 20, 2025

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

Related Words

• relieve
• rescue