Definition of bailout
: a rescue from financial distress
From the M-W Editors
Examples of bailout in a Sentence
government bailouts of large corporations
Recent Examples of bailout from the Web
-
Conservatives generally oppose the subsidies, calling them a bailout of the insurance industry and arguing that the Obama administration didn’t have the authority to pay them.
-
But post-EU bailout, the country has become newly revitalized.
-
On November 8, 2016, the firm’s prospects of securing a bailout massively improved.
-
Worldpay was spun out of Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010, as part of the EU's conditions for approving the U.K.'s 43 billion pound bailout of RBS during the financial crisis.
-
In 2004-2005 the City of Naperville was then asked to fork over more than $3 million in a total bailout of the project.
-
Many people on social media applauded Coinbase's decision to make good the traders' flash crash losses, though some complained the move amounted to a bailout and set an unhealthy precedent.
-
Regulators require big banks to draft the wills to show how they would be dismantled in a failure without relying on taxpayer bailouts.
-
Even Greece, which is just coming out of an economic depression and is operating under an international bailout, is doing better, with quarterly growth of 0.4 percent, double Britain’s.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bailout.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of bailout
1939
Other Business Terms
Financial Definition of BAILOUT
bailout
What It Is
A bailout is financial help for ailing companies.
How It Works
Company XYZ is in the newspaper industry and has seen a dramatic downturn in its advertising sales. The company's board believes that if it can launch an interactive digital version of its product, which has been in development for two years, it could become a viable business again.
Company XYZ publishes the only paper in the county, and Company ABC loves the newspaper. Company ABC agrees to lend Company XYZ enough money to launch the new digital product, and it prices the loan at an interest rate below what Company XYZ could get anywhere else. Essentially, Company ABC gives Company XYZ a bailout.
Bailouts can be loans, but they can also be stock, cash, bonds, or other forms of money.
Why It Matters
Bailouts are essentially monies intended to get companies out of trouble. Often, governments give bailouts to companies whose bankruptcies would cost what the government deems "too many jobs" or cause "too much" damage.
Bailouts are a challenge to capitalism in its purest sense. Critics of bailouts argue, for example, that companies should be left to succeed and fail on their own merits, and that supply and demand in the free markets will always determine the worth of goods and services. Supporters of bailouts argue that bailouts are sometimes the lesser of two evils when it comes to a company failing and displacing thousands of workers.
BAILOUT Defined for English Language Learners
bailout
playDefinition of bailout for English Language Learners
-
: the act of saving or rescuing something (such as a business) from money problems
Law Dictionary
bailout
playLegal Definition of bailout
: a rescue from financial distress
Learn More about bailout
-
See words that rhyme with bailout Spanish Central: Translation of bailout Nglish: Translation of bailout for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of bailout for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up bailout? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!