Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to leave in a hurry, to run off, to escape from a difficult situation.

1899–1900		C.L. Cullen Tales of the Ex-Tanks 307: Yees must ha’ made up yees moinds at wan an’ th’ same toime t’ bale yeezselves out.
1908		Sporting Times 15 Feb. 1/5: Then the lady fetched the necessary rent receipts and bailed out.
1943		in Randolph & Legman Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (1992) I 580: I went to Boston and met a little whore, / She was bailing out to Jackson’s on the 47th floor / We went to a restaurant to get a bite to eat.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 21/2: Bail out. 1. [...] 2. To get one out of an annoying situation, as when a bore is talking dully and incessantly to him.
1965		L. Dunne Goodbye to The Hill (1966) 76: I’m baling out now, kid.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 7: We had to bail out the windows on to Amsterdam Avenue.
1985		Tracks (Aus.) Nov. 5: I bailed out and when I resurfaced the dickhead had chopped my three month old quad in half [Moore 1993].
1991		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper From The Inside 25: Amos bailed out as well, after meeting Mad Micky.
1993		K. Scott Monster (1994) 180: We bailed out of our foxhole and into the lights of an on-coming car.
1998		R.G. Barrett Goodoo Goodoo 188: I’ll have a quiet one tonight [...] then bail out in the morning.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 99: Before the day is out we have bailed out of Chicago.
2006		G. Pelecanos Night Gardener 107: Gaskins would have liked nothing better than to bail out on him.
2006		B. Matthews Intractable [ebook] McCafferty bailed out and went on protection.
2012		C. Rosmus ‘Hangdog’ in C. Rhatigan and N. Bird (eds) Pulp Ink 2 [ebook] Bailed out when I needed him most.
2013		T. Peacock More You Bet 11: My oldest friend [...] baled out of Duntroon Military College.

2. (Aus.) to lock out.

1949

R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 119: Hey, Bumper, you old cow [...] It’s me. What are you doing bailing us out like this?

3. to dispose of, to get rid of.

1982

(con. 1970) J.M. Del Vecchio 13th Valley (1983) 287: He bailed out anything he could, discarded over half his ammunition.

4. to die.

1986

C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 222: They find Cardillo on the floor with a bullet in him. Dying. He bails out later at Lenox Hill.

5. (US) to abandon someone, to terminate a relationship.

1989–2003

R.O. Scott Gay Sl. Dict. 🌐 bail out: [1990s] v. to leave or abandon. (‘Eric are you bailing out on me?’).