bail out

present singular third person bails out · participle present bailing out · participle past bailed out · past bailed out · alternative bale out

1. transitiveTo secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail money.
2. transitivenauticalTo remove water from a boat by scooping it out.

   But it passed, leaving us up to our knees in water. 'Bail out! bail out!' shouted Job, suiting the action to the word.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

3. idiomatictransitiveTo rescue, especially financially.

   Once again, the industry got itself in trouble and government had to bail it out.

   1 more example

   Stanning, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2008 and has served in Afghanistan, is not the first soldier to bail out the organisers at these Games but will be among the most celebrated.

   2012 August 1, Owen Gibson, London 2012: rowers Glover and Stanning win Team GB's first gold medal, Guardian Unlimited

4. intransitiveusuallywith ofTo exit an aircraft while in flight.

   Make sure your parachute harness is securely fastened before you bail out!

   1 more example

   Holmes bailed out of his fighter and parachuted onto an apartment house.

   2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage, →ISBN, page 308

5. idiomaticintransitiveslangTo leave (or not attend at all) a place or a situation, especially quickly or when the situation has become undesirable; to abandon (something).

   She's bailing out on the project.

   1 more example

   I'm going to bail out of class today.

6. idiomaticintransitiveslangwith onTo abandon (someone) when that person faces difficulties.

   When I got arrested, she bailed out on me.

7. colloquialidiomaticintransitivewith ofTo sell all or part of one's holdings in stocks, real estate, a business, etc.

   I'm going to bail out of stocks and buy gold instead.

8. intransitivewith ofTo make an unscheduled voluntary termination of an underwater dive, usually implying the use of an alternative breathing gas supply.
9. idiomatictransitivehobbiesTo fail badly; to fall off a skateboard.
10. idiomaticintransitivehobbiesTo abandon one's surfboard when faced with a large or perilous wave.