bailie
Americannoun
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(in Scotland) a municipal officer or magistrate, corresponding to an English alderman.
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Obsolete. bailiff.
noun
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(in Scotland) a municipal magistrate
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an obsolete or dialect spelling of bailiff
Other Word Forms
- subbailie noun
Etymology
Origin of bailie
1250–1300; Middle English baillie < Old French bailli, variant of baillif bailiff
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 only pleasant thing about cleaning one’s bailie was that this was the one moment in those early days when we could have a whispered word with our colleagues.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
And the leading bailie, one Donnan, a butcher and army contractor, sat with something less of dignity but equal efficiency in his magisterial chair.
From The Suprising Adventures of Sir Toady Lion With Those of General Napoleon Smith by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
No," replied the bailie; "that's no a thing to be now thought of; please Providence, she'll ne'er again darken my door; I'll no, however, allow her to want.
From Ringan Gilhaize or The Covenanters by Galt, John
“The appearance of a bailie for a brief space dispersed the crowd, but only to show how easily the authorities might have protected their victim if they had chosen.”
From Witch Stories by Linton, E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn)
A lass!" answered the senior bailie, still more hilariously, "that's surely less than proper.
From The Suprising Adventures of Sir Toady Lion With Those of General Napoleon Smith by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)
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.
