Meaning & use

bail

noun·Academic

A sum of money paid to a court to temporarily release an accused person until their trial.

See it in a sentence

His family paid the bail so he could return home while awaiting his court date.

The judge set bail at an amount the defendant's lawyer considered unreasonably high.

A note on using this word

To 'bail someone out' means to pay this money, but it can also mean, more loosely, to rescue someone from trouble.

Words with a similar meaning

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