bailey
[bey-lee]
- the defensive wall surrounding an outer court of a castle.
- the courtyard itself.
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Also ballium.
Origin of bailey
Bailey
[bey-lee]
- Liberty Hyde,1858–1954, U.S. botanist, horticulturist, and writer.
- Nathan or Nathaniel,died 1742, English lexicographer.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bailey
Contemporary Examples
Circus parades often became as large a sight as the performance itself; one Barnum and Bailey parade stretched for three miles.
In 1881, along came Bailey, operator of another circus, and two circuses joined to give rise to the first three-ring spectacle.
Bailey and one of the other women said that Freundel specifically instructed them not to tell others about the re-dunk.
Women Describe How Top D.C. Rabbi Allegedly Spied on Them in the NudeSteven I. Weiss
October 22, 2014
Bailey, who is also dating the director, said working on a Leigh production was incredibly arduous.
“My balls are getting stuck,” Bailey Jay complains at one point, crossing and re-crossing her mile-long legs.
Historical Examples
It was on the brink of the Barrage itself that I spoke to Bailey.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
"Will, let's go to meeting to-night," he said, the next time he came across Will Bailey.
Now Mr Bailey, take this gentleman home, and see him safely in.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
He might have died and welcome, fifty times, and not been such a loss as Bailey!'
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
"Well, sometimes he thinks 'Yes' and then again he thinks 'No,'" replied Bailey.
Cy Whittaker's PlaceJoseph C. Lincoln
bailey
- the outermost wall or court of a castle
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Word Origin
C13: from Old French baille enclosed court, from bailler to enclose; see bail ³
Bailey
- David . born 1938, English photographer
- Nathan or Nathaniel . died 1742, English lexicographer: compiler of An Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1721–27)
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for bailey
n.
"wall enclosing an outer court," early 14c. (c.1200 in Anglo-Latin), baylle, variant of bail, from Old French bail "stake, palisade, brace," of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately connected to Latin bacula "sticks," on notion of "stakes, palisade fence." Old Bailey, seat of Central Criminal Court in London, was so called because it stood within the ancient bailey of the city wall. The surname Bailey usually is from Old French bailli, a later form of baillif (see bailiff).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper