bail
/beɪl/noun, verb
bail is spelled B-A-I-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bail vs bale” about 1,600 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, bail means “Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bail is bails.
How many letters and syllables are in bail?
| Letters | 4: B-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 7,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bail?
Bail appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,009th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bail?
- US /beɪl/
- Australia /bæɪl/
- /beːl/
Bail has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bale.ogg, En-au-bail.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Dev_Jadiya-bail_condition.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bail
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: bale (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: baile.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bail?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bail from its last stressed vowel (/eɪl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bail
- bails plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bailing participle, present
- bailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
He was granted bail for £20000.
- 2
UKRelease from imprisonment on payment of such money.
- 3
UKThe person providing such payment.
- 4
A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.
- 5
A person who bails water out of a boat.
- 6
obsoleteCustody; keeping.
- 7
A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).
- 8
A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).
- 9
A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.
- 10
AustraliaA frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.
- 11
A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.
- 12
One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.
- 13
Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.
verb
- 1
To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.
- 2
To release a person under such guarantee.
- 3
To hand over personal property to be held temporarily by another as a bailment.
to bail cloth to a tailor to be made into a garment; to bail goods to a carrier
- 4
To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.
to bail water out of a boat
- 5
To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out.
to bail a boat
- 6
To set free; to deliver; to release.
- 7
slangTo leave or exit abruptly.
With his engine in flames, the pilot had no choice but to bail.
- 8
informalTo fail to meet a commitment (to a person).
- 9
To secure the head of a cow during milking.
- 10
rareTo confine.
- 11
AustraliaTo secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.
- 12
AustraliaTo keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them; to corner (a wild animal); loosely, to detain, hold up.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | caution , libération sous caution, liberté sous caution , écope , écoper , anse |
| German | Kaution , leerpumpen , Kaution stellen , ausschöpfen |
| Portuguese | fiança, caução , balde , baldear , fiador , baldeador |
| Spanish | fianza, caución , libertad bajo fianza, excarcelación so caución , balde , excarcelar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bail come from?
From Middle English baille, from the Old French verb bailler (“to deliver or hand over”) and noun bail (“lease”), from Latin bāiulāre (“carry or bear”), from baiulus (“porter; steward”) (English: bailiff).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).