There are many reasons why learning English is
difficult. The one that really seems to
frustrate my students is when a word or phrase has more than one meaning. This is especially difficult when an English
word or phrase has two meanings which are almost the opposite. In this lesson, I will feature such a phrase.
Bail out/Bale out
1 to quit, escape,
jump out of
examples
We had a plan, but Philip bailed out at the last second.
The boat was sinking, so everyone bailed out.
Maria and her friends wanted to take a trip to Paris
2 to help someone
(this comes from the idea of someone providing money so you can stay out of
jail)
examples
Martha's mother bailed her out when she couldn't find anyone
to look after her children.
After being stuck at the airport for more than 3 hours,
John's friends picked him up. He thanked
them for bailing him out.
3 to scoop water out
of a boat so it doesn't sink.
examples
In the storm, everyone had to bail out water so that the
boat wouldn't sink.
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