skip bail
Idioms-
Also, jump bail. Fail to appear in court for trial and thereby give up the bail bond (paid to secure one's appearance). For example, I can't afford to skip bail—I'd lose half a million, or We were sure he'd jump bail but he finally showed up. This idiom uses skip and jump in the sense of “evade”. The first dates from about 1900, the variant from the mid-1800s. Also see make bail.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The entire premise on which the commercial bail system is built — that when defendants skip bail, someone must either find them or pay, is somewhat illusory.
From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2018
Nationwide, perhaps only one in 1,000 indicted felons skip bail and run for it, he says, but the percentage is higher in the Redoubt and especially in Lincoln County, in nearby north-western Montana.
From Economist • Aug. 4, 2016
But, believing the judge was going to renege on the deal and extend his sentence, he chose to skip bail in 1978, fleeing the US to Britain, and then to France.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2015
Investigating magistrates claimed to have found evidence that lodge members had helped Sindona skip bail in New York in 1979 by faking his kidnaping and hiding him near Palermo.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.