Bale vs. Bail – How to Use Each Correctly

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Bale vs. Bail – What’s the Gist?

The usage of the homographs of the English words bale and bail reflects a changing society.

Earlier in the agrarian United States, bales of straw and hay were commonplace. Today, it may be more likely to bail someone out of a legal situation or an anxious predicament.

  • Bale is a noun that means a large bundle of goods, like paper or hay. It is also a transitive verb showing the act of making into a bundle.
  • Bail is a noun, meaning a security given for release from jail or to help out of a predicament.

bale versus bail

How to Use Bale in a Sentence

Bale definition: As a noun, the word bale has two very different denotations. The likely thing that comes to mind is a compressed package of hay or straw. However, the word bale can also mean a great evil or significant woe or sorrow.

For example:

  • When the students went on a hayride, they sat on bales of straw. (Noun)
  • The accused gave the witness a baleful look from the defendant’s table. (Adjective)
  • After a long day’s labor, the farm workers baled 200 bundles of hay. (Past Tense Verb)

The use of bale to mean sorrow is an archaic term and not likely to be used today.

How to Use Bail in a Sentence

Bail definition: The noun bail reflects the meaning of the temporary release of a prisoner awaiting trial. It also has an informal connotation of helping someone out of a predicament or clearing water from a boat.

For example:

  • After the initial hearing, the suspect posted bail. (Noun)
  • The boy asked his mother to bail him out of his responsibilities, so he could go to the movies. (Infinitive)
  • The sailors are bailing out the water in the boat to keep from sinking. (Present Participle)

Bail can be either a noun or a verb.

Outside Examples of Bale vs. Bail

  • All of the different items, now sorted, are inspected by workers in the quality control line and smushed into bales. The bales will be shipped out to various facilities — some in Florida and others across the Southeast — and made into other products. –Tampa Bay Times
  • Volunteers slung bales of hay onto a table Thursday, where they were swiftly stuffed inside blue plastic bags, twirled and shut with twist ties before being dragged off to waiting pallets. –ABC Channel12 News
  • A new bail law in New York requires judges to free most suspects arrested for non-violent crimes. Because the pile of charges Barry faces are not violent — including grand larceny, petty larceny and fraudulent accosting — judges were not allowed to send him to jail while the cases were awaiting trial. –Daily News
  • Avenatti, 48, has pleaded not guilty to charges in all three criminal cases. The California attorney gained fame through his representation of Daniels in lawsuits against President Donald Trump. Once a regular guest on cable television programs, Avenatti has been jailed in Manhattan after Los Angeles prosecutors alleged he violated his bail conditions. –The Denver Post

Phrases That Use Bale and Bail

There are some phrases that use the word bale or bail, including:

Hay bale: A bundle of timothy, clover, or alfalfa stems used as animal feed.

  • The livestock owner threw down several hay bales to feed the animals.

Bailout: Being rescued from financial disaster, often by a government.

  • The car company received a bailout to help with financial solvency.

Jump bail: A person who fails to show up in court after posting bail.

  • The accused drug dealer jumped bail and was on the run.

How to Remember These Words

If you are going on a hayride, looking for harvest decorations, or feeding/bedding animals, it is likely that you’ll be looking for bales of hay or straw. On the other hand, if you need to either lend money or a hand, you are likely bailing them out in some way.

To remember bale for hay or straw, all three words have a single letter a in the respective words: bale, straw, and hay. Use the word malevolent to remember the other denotation of the noun bale. Both words share ale and mean evil.

A mnemonic for bail is to remember that not only does bail rhyme with jail but also shares the last three letters.

For example:

  • She picked up three bales of straw to decorate her house for the fall season.
  • Before the political captive said anything, he gave the prison guard a baleful stare.
  • He posted bail for his friend in jail.

Article Summary

Is bale or bail correct? Do you want a bundle to sit on or a bucket to move water? Your need will dictate which word to use. Sit on a bale of straw. Bail out a boat.

  • Bale is a noun.
  • Bail is a noun.