To bail on someone

[Chicken Sandwich]

Charlie: Okay, we got to get her out of here.
Alan: Charlie, she needs us.
Charlie: She doesn't need us; she needs a lawyer...new shrink.
Alan: Well, then, we'll get her those.
Charlie: Okay, at this point, I think I'd like to stop using the word "we."
Alan: Oh, oh, you're going to bail on her?

I've looked up the word bail in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:

bail 2 verb

1 ( also bail out American English bale out British English ) [ intransitive ] informal to escape from a situation that you do not want to be in any more : After ten years in the business, McArthur is baling out.

2 [ transitive usually passive ] British English if someone is bailed, they are let out of prison to wait for their trial after they have left a sum of money with the court : Dakers was bailed to appear at Durham Crown Court.

bail out phrasal verb
1 bail somebody/something ↔ out ( also bale somebody/something ↔ out British English ) to do something to help someone out of trouble, especially financial problems : Some local businesses have offered to bail out the museum.
Sutton bailed his team out with a goal in the last minute.

2 bail somebody ↔ out to leave a large sum of money with a court so that someone can be let out of prison while waiting for their trial : Clarke’s family paid £500 to bail him out.

3 American English to escape from a plane, using a parachute SYN bale out British English
4 bail something ↔ out ( also bale something ↔ out British English ) to remove water that has come into a boat

I'm guessing that the dialogue I quoted above, falls under the first definition: to escape from a situation that you do not want to be in any more. This is a slightly different usage.

So as I see it, if you bail on someone, that can mean that you abandon that person/leave behind/ stop caring for them? Am I right?

 

[emsr2d2]

I've looked up the word bail in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:






I'm guessing that the dialogue I quoted above, falls under the first definition: to escape from a situation that you do not want to be in any more. This is a slightly different usage.

So as I see it, if you bail on someone, that can mean that you abandon that person/leave behind/ stop caring for them? Am I right?

In the passage you quoted it means to abandon the woman in question. The speaker is no longer interested in helping her so he's going to leave it to someone else to deal with her. He intends to "bail on her", stop helping her, stop being involved. I'm interested in the fact that it says in your definition, in BrE this would be "bale on her". I am a BrE speaker and I would use "bail". I think definition 3 also fits - to escape from a plane, which would also be escaping from a situation you don't want to be in.

I was recently at a karaoke evening. At the beginning of the evening, everyone was very enthusiastic and excited but as the evening wore on, people began to be very nervous about having their turn to sing. One of my friends put on her coat, picked up her bag and said "I just can't do this. I'm gonna bail" and she left! Coward!!!