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
Jordanhill then ascended, leading the way, followed by his men, the bailie of Crail being before my grandfather.
From Ringan Gilhaize or The Covenanters by John Galt
These being sure signs that the corpse was possessed by a vampire, the local bailie was fetched and the usual proceedings for the expulsion of the undesirable phantasm began.
From Byways of Ghost-Land by Elliott O'Donnell
Mebbe you minds Peggy Moulding, what married th’ bailie?
From Greene Ferne Farm by Richard Jefferies
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 Daniel Turner Holmes
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.
