bail up
Britishverb
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informal to confine (a cow) or (of a cow) to be confined by the head in a bail See bail 3
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(tr) history (of a bushranger) to hold under guard in order to rob
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(intr) to submit to robbery without offering resistance
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informal (tr) to accost or detain, esp in conversation; buttonhole
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.
The errant pooch then interrupted the proceedings again, with Joyce saying: "I do apologise for this dog, it's just started to bail up."
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
He was released on unsecured bail, meaning he was not required to pay his bail up front, common for misdemeanors in Pennsylvania.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2023
“We put calls out last night trying to put bail up for the guy,” Bannon said the next morning on his “War Room” podcast.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 10, 2022
It happened in Cuba that there were not nearly enough buckets to bail up the syrup from the vats in the sugar-cane mills, and those at hand were too small.
From The Lightning Conductor Discovers America by Williamson, C. N. (Charles Norris)
An' then 'Squire Brookhouse, an' one or two more, piped in with objections, until the Jestice put the bail up ter five thousand.
From Out of a Labyrinth by Lynch, Lawrence L.
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.
