bail

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
• noun Release from imprisonment provided by the payment of such money.
• noun A person who provides this security.
• transitive verb To secure the release of by providing security.
• transitive verb To release (a person) for whom security has been paid.
• transitive verb Informal To extricate from a difficult situation.
• idiom (jump/skip) To fail to appear in court and so forfeit one's bail.
• idiom (make bail) To secure enough money or property to pay the amount of one's bail.
• intransitive verb To remove (water) from a boat by repeatedly filling a container and emptying it over the side.
• intransitive verb To empty (a boat) of water by bailing.
• intransitive verb To empty a boat of water by bailing.
• intransitive verb To parachute from an aircraft; eject. Often used with out.
• intransitive verb To abandon a project or enterprise. Often used with out.
• noun A container used for emptying water from a boat.
• noun The arched hooplike handle of a container, such as a pail.
• noun An arch or hoop, such as one of those used to support the top of a covered wagon.
• noun A hinged bar on a typewriter that holds the paper against the platen.
• noun The pivoting U-shaped part of a fishing reel that guides the line onto the spool during rewinding.
• noun A small loop, usually of metal, attached to a pendant to enable it to be strung on a necklace or bracelet.
• noun Chiefly British A pole or bar used to confine or separate animals.
• noun Sports One of the two crossbars that form the top of a wicket used in the game of cricket.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A hoop or ring; a piece of wood, metal, or other material bent into the form of a circle or half-circle, as a hoop for supporting the tilt of a boat, the cover of a wagon or cradle, etc. Specifically The hoop forming the handle of a kettle or bucket.
• noun One of the iron yokes which serve to suspend a lifecar from the hawser on which it runs.
• noun A stout iron yoke placed over heavy guns and fitting closely over the ends of the trunnions, to which it is attached by pins in the axis of the trunnions: used to raise the gun by means of the gin.
• noun An arched support of a millstone.
• noun A wooden canopy formed of bows.
• To provide with a bail; hoop.
• In law: To deliver, as goods, without transference of ownership, on an agreement, expressed or implied, that they shall be returned or accounted for. See bailment.
• To set free, deliver, or liberate from arrest and imprisonment, upon security given that the person bailed shall appear and answer in court or satisfy the judgment given: applied to the action of the magistrate or the surety.
• Figuratively, to release; liberate.
• To be security for; secure; protect.
• noun Power; custody; jurisdiction.
• noun The keeping of a person in nominal custody on security that he shall appear in court at a specified time.
• noun Security given to obtain the release of a prisoner from custody, pending final decision in the action against him.
• noun Figuratively, security; guaranty.
• noun Liberation on bail: as, to grant bail.
• noun The person or persons who provide bail, and thus obtain the temporary release of a prisoner.
• noun [Bail, being an abstract noun applicable to persons only by ellipsis, is not used in the plural.]
• noun To vouch (for a thing): as, I'll go bail for that.
• noun A bar; a cross-bar.
• noun In cricket, one of the two little bars or sticks, about 4 inches long, which are laid on the tops of the stumps, one end resting in the groove of one stump, and the other in that of the next.
• noun A bar or pole to separate horses in a stable.
• noun A framework for securing the head of a cow while she is being milked.
• noun [The earliest use in E.] Milit.: plural The outer wall or line of defenses, originally often made of stakes; barriers; palisades. See palisade. Hence— The space inclosed by the outer wall; the outer court of a castle or a fortified post: in this sense usually called bailey. See bailey.
• noun A certain limit in a forest.
• To bar in; confine.
• To provide with a bail.
• noun A bucket; a pail; especially, a bucket or other small vessel used to dip water out of a boat.
• etc. Obsolete and less proper spelling of bale, etc.
• To remove (water), or free (a boat, etc.) from water, with a bail, bucket, basin, or other small vessel: usually with out.