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
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
“Doctor, I’m ready to swear afore a bailie that I never saw them thegither at the Kaims.”
From The Little Minister by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)
Under the Restoration, one Stevenson was a bailie in Edinburgh, and another the lessee of the Canonmills.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 16 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Yon babbling wight, of sense forlorn, Who thinks himself a Gladstone born, Although a bailie, still must strain To gain himself a Provost's chain.
From Literary Tours in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland by Holmes, Daniel Turner
In these demands the bailie properly acquiesced; but, on attempting in person to enforce his orders to that effect, he was denied admittance to the convent.
From Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters by Bruce, H. Addington (Henry Addington)
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.
