bailout

American  

[bayl-aut] / ˈbeɪlˌaʊt /

Or bail-out

noun

• bailouts
  plural

1. the act of parachuting from an aircraft, especially to escape a crash, fire, etc.

2. an instance of coming to the rescue, especially financially.

   a government bailout of a large company.

3. an alternative, additional choice, or the like.

   If the highway is jammed, you have two side roads as bailouts.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or consisting of means for relieving an emergency situation.

   bailout measures for hard-pressed smallbusinesses.

bailout British  

/ ˈbeɪlaʊt /

noun

1. an act of bailing out, usually by the government, of a failing institution or business

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bailouts
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bailout

First recorded in 1950–55; noun and adjective use of the verb phrase bail out

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Explanation

When a business is in financial trouble and the government helps them, that's a bailout. In 2008, the U.S. Treasury provided bailouts to several big banks, insurance companies, and car manufacturers. Anyone receiving much-needed financial assistance gets a bailout, but the term is most often used when a large institution or corporation needs cash and the government provides it. When they face the threat of bankruptcy and failure, businesses appeal for an infusion of money. If the companies are seen as vital to the country's economy or infrastructure, the government may offer a bailout. The maritime origin of bailout describes scooping (or bailing) water out of a sinking boat.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bailout bailouts

At the weekend, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he would be meeting JLR bosses this week to "mitigate any job losses", but he ruled out a bailout for the company.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

Wildfire victims and other critics had called the plan a corporate bailout.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

The moves aren’t the same as a bailout, he said, but it’s along the lines of providing support.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

That Ishbia needed a bailout didn’t surprise some critics of the company, which overtook rival Rocket Mortgage as the largest mortgage lender by dollar volume by cultivating a network of brokers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

It was like a rerun of the first Coach bailout when he came and picked me up from school and I said pretty much those exact words.

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds

It is currently in the midst of its 25th programme with the Fund -- at least 11 of which have been outright bailouts -- since gaining independence in 1947.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

It is rather to ensure that markets will be able to operate effectively even in a correction and without recourse to public bailouts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

The South L.A. hospital has operated in the red in recent years and received a total of $68 million in what amount to bailouts from the state and Los Angeles County between 2023 and 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Perhaps, however, without the Greenspan era’s market bailouts.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

Jamaica's onerous debt burden - the fourth highest per capita - is the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy, most notably the financial sector in the mid-to-late 1990s.

From The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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