Bail vs. Bond — What's the Difference?

The financial amount set by a court to secure a defendant's temporary release.

A contract ensuring a defendant's appearance in court.

A guarantee for the court that a defendant will return for trial.

A third-party guarantee for a defendant's court appearance.

The practice of providing money to the court for temporary release.

A written agreement involving collateral or co-signers.

Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.

An alternative to paying the full bail amount.

The temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial, sometimes on condition that a sum of money is lodged to guarantee their appearance in court

Something, such as a fetter, cord, or band, that binds, ties, or fastens things together.

Either of the two crosspieces bridging the stumps, which the bowler and fielders try to dislodge with the ball to get the batsman out

Often bonds Confinement in prison; captivity.

A bar on a typewriter or computer printer which holds the paper steady.

A uniting force or relationship; a link

A fastening that secures a crampon to the sole of a boot.

A binding agreement; a covenant.

A bar or pole separating horses in an open stable.

A duty, promise, or other obligation by which one is bound.

Release or secure the release of (a prisoner) on payment of bail

A substance or agent that causes two or more objects or parts to cohere.

Confront (someone) with the intention of robbing them

The union or cohesion brought about by such a substance or agent.

Secure (a cow) during milking.

A chemical bond.

Scoop water out of (a ship or boat)

A systematically overlapping or alternating arrangement of bricks or stones in a wall, designed to increase strength and stability.

Abandon a commitment, obligation, or activity

A written obligation requiring the payment of a sum at a certain time.

Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.

A debt security obligating a government or corporation to pay a specified amount on a future date, especially a marketable security that makes semiannual interest payments.

Release from imprisonment provided by the payment of such money.

A guarantee issued by a surety agency on behalf of a client, requiring the surety to pay a sum of money to a third party in the event the client fails to fulfill certain obligations; a surety bond.

A person who provides this security.

A sum pledged as a guarantee.

A container used for emptying water from a boat.

A sum paid as a guarantee of a person's appearance at court for trial; bail

The arched hooplike handle of a container, such as a pail.

The condition of being held under the guarantee of a customs bond

An arch or hoop, such as one of those used to support the top of a covered wagon.

An insurance contract that indemnifies an employer for loss resulting from a fraudulent or dishonest act by an employee; a fidelity bond.

A hinged bar on a typewriter that holds the paper against the platen.

Bond paper.

The pivoting U-shaped part of a fishing reel that guides the line onto the spool during rewinding.

To join securely, as with glue or cement.

A small loop, usually of metal, attached to a pendant to enable it to be strung on a necklace or bracelet.

To join (two or more individuals) in a relationship, as by shared belief or experience

Chiefly British A pole or bar used to confine or separate animals.

To finance by issuing bonds

(Sports) One of the two crossbars that form the top of a wicket used in the game of cricket.

To raise by issuing bonds

To secure the release of by providing security.

To gain the release of (someone who has been arrested) by providing a bail bond

To release (a person) for whom security has been paid.

To issue a surety bond or a fidelity bond for.

(Informal) To extricate from a difficult situation

To lay (bricks or stones) in an overlapping or alternating pattern.

To remove (water) from a boat by repeatedly filling a container and emptying it over the side.

To cohere with a bond.

To empty (a boat) of water by bailing.

To form a close personal relationship.

To empty a boat of water by bailing.

To secure release from prison by providing a bail bond

To parachute from an aircraft; eject. Often used with out

(legal) Evidence of a long-term debt, by which the bond issuer (the borrower) is obliged to pay interest when due, and repay the principal at maturity, as specified on the face of the bond certificate. The rights of the holder are specified in the bond indenture, which contains the legal terms and conditions under which the bond was issued. Bonds are available in two forms: registered bonds, and bearer bonds.

To abandon a project or enterprise. Often used with out

(finance) A documentary obligation to pay a sum or to perform a contract; a debenture.

Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.

A partial payment made to show a provider that the customer is sincere about buying a product or a service. If the product or service is not purchased the customer then forfeits the bond.

Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.

A physical connection which binds, a band.

The person providing such payment.

An emotional link, connection or union; that which holds two or more people together, as in a friendship; a tie.

A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.

Moral or political duty or obligation.

A person who bails water out of a boat.

(chemistry) A link or force between neighbouring atoms in a molecule.

(obsolete) Custody; keeping.

A binding agreement, a covenant.

A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).

A bail bond.

A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).

Any constraining or cementing force or material.

A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.

(construction) In building, a specific pattern of bricklaying, based on overlapping rows or layers to give strength.

A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.

(Scotland) A mortgage.

A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.

(railways) A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit.

(cricket) One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.

A peasant; churl.

(furniture) Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.

A vassal; serf; one held in bondage to a superior.

To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.

(transitive) To connect, secure or tie with a bond; to bind.

(legal) To release a person under such guarantee.

(transitive) To cause to adhere (one material with another).

(legal) To hand over personal property to be held temporarily by another as a bailment.

To form a chemical compound with.

To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.

(transitive) To guarantee or secure a financial risk.

To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out.

To form a friendship or emotional connection.

To set free; to deliver; to release.

(transitive) To put in a bonded warehouse; to secure (goods) until the associated duties are paid.

(slang) To exit quickly.

To lay bricks in a specific pattern.

To fail to meet a commitment (to a person).

To make a reliable electrical connection between two conductors (or any pieces of metal that may potentially become conductors).

To secure the head of a cow during milking.

To bail out by means of a bail bond.

(rare) To confine.

Subject to the tenure called bondage.

To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.

In a state of servitude or slavedom; not free.

To keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them; to corner (a wild animal); loosely, to detain, hold up.

Servile; slavish; pertaining to or befitting a slave.

A bucket or scoop used in bailing water out of a boat.

That which binds, ties, fastens, or confines, or by which anything is fastened or bound, as a cord, chain, etc.; a band; a ligament; a shackle or a manacle.

Custody; keeping.

The state of being bound; imprisonment; captivity, restraint.

The person or persons who procure the release of a prisoner from the custody of the officer, or from imprisonment, by becoming surety for his appearance in court.

A binding force or influence; a cause of union; a uniting tie; as, the bonds of fellowship.

The security given for the appearance of a prisoner in order to obtain his release from custody of the officer; as, the man is out on bail; to go bail for any one.

Moral or political duty or obligation.

The arched handle of a kettle, pail, or similar vessel, usually movable.

A writing under seal, by which a person binds himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, to pay a certain sum on or before a future day appointed. This is a single bond. But usually a condition is added, that, if the obligor shall do a certain act, appear at a certain place, conform to certain rules, faithfully perform certain duties, or pay a certain sum of money, on or before a time specified, the obligation shall be void; otherwise it shall remain in full force. If the condition is not performed, the bond becomes forfeited, and the obligor and his heirs are liable to the payment of the whole sum.

A half hoop for supporting the cover of a carrier's wagon, awning of a boat, etc.

A financial instrument (of the nature of the ordinary legal bond) made by a government or a corporation for purpose of borrowing money; a written promise to pay a specific sum of money on or before a specified day, given in return for a sum of money; as, a government, city, or railway bond.

A line of palisades serving as an exterior defense.

The state of goods placed in a bonded warehouse till the duties are paid; as, merchandise in bond.

The outer wall of a feudal castle. Hence: The space inclosed by it; the outer court.

The union or tie of the several stones or bricks forming a wall. The bricks may be arranged for this purpose in several different ways, as in English bond or block bond (Fig. 1), where one course consists of bricks with their ends toward the face of the wall, called headers, and the next course of bricks with their lengths parallel to the face of the wall, called stretchers; Flemish bond (Fig.2), where each course consists of headers and stretchers alternately, so laid as always to break joints; Cross bond, which differs from the English by the change of the second stretcher line so that its joints come in the middle of the first, and the same position of stretchers comes back every fifth line; Combined cross and English bond, where the inner part of the wall is laid in the one method, the outer in the other.

A certain limit within a forest.

A unit of chemical attraction between atoms; as, oxygen has two bonds of affinity. Also called chemical bond. It is often represented in graphic formulæ by a short line or dash. See Diagram of Benzene nucleus, and Valence. Several types of bond are distinguished by chemists, as double bond, triple bond, covalent bond, hydrogen bond.

A division for the stalls of an open stable.

A heavy copper wire or rod connecting adjacent rails of an electric railway track when used as a part of the electric circuit.

The top or cross piece (or either of the two cross pieces) of the wicket.

League; association; confederacy.

To lade; to dip and throw; - usually with out; as, to bail water out of a boat.

A vassal or serf; a slave.

To dip or lade water from; - often with out to express completeness; as, to bail a boat.

To place under the conditions of a bond; to mortgage; to secure the payment of the duties on (goods or merchandise) by giving a bond.

To deliver; to release.

To dispose in building, as the materials of a wall, so as to secure solidity.

To set free, or deliver from arrest, or out of custody, on the undertaking of some other person or persons that he or they will be responsible for the appearance, at a certain day and place, of the person bailed.

In a state of servitude or slavery; captive.

To deliver, as goods in trust, for some special object or purpose, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that the trust shall be faithfully executed on the part of the bailee, or person intrusted; as, to bail cloth to a tailor to be made into a garment; to bail goods to a carrier.

An electrical force linking atoms

(criminal law) money that must be forfeited by the bondsman if an accused person fails to appear in court for trial;

A certificate of debt (usually interest-bearing or discounted) that is issued by a government or corporation in order to raise money; the issuer is required to pay a fixed sum annually until maturity and then a fixed sum to repay the principal

The legal system that allows an accused person to be temporarily released from custody (usually on condition that a sum of money guarantees their appearance at trial);

A connection based on kinship or marriage or common interest;

Release after a security has been paid

(criminal law) money that must be forfeited by the bondsman if an accused person fails to appear in court for trial;

Deliver something in trust to somebody for a special purpose and for a limited period

A restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner)

Secure the release of (someone) by providing security

A connection that fastens things together

Empty (a vessel) by bailing

A superior quality of strong durable white writing paper; originally made for printing documents

Remove (water) from a vessel with a container

United States civil rights leader who was elected to the legislature in Georgia but was barred from taking his seat because he opposed the Vietnam War (born 1940)

A form of pre-trial release from custody.

British secret operative 007 in novels by Ian Fleming

A court-ordered payment for temporary freedom.

The property of sticking together (as of glue and wood) or the joining of surfaces of different composition

Stick to firmly;

Create social or emotional ties;

Issue bonds on

Bring together in a common cause or emotion;

Held in slavery;

A fee-based service provided by bail bonds agencies.

A judge typically sets the bail amount during a bail hearing.

Bail is often refundable if the defendant appears in court as required.

A bond is an agreement that ensures the defendant will appear in court, usually involving a third party like a bail bondsman.

Bond fees paid to a bail bondsman are usually not refundable.

Bail is the monetary amount set by a court to secure a defendant's temporary release until their trial.

Licensed bail bondsmen or bail bonds agencies can offer bond services.

Violating a bond agreement may result in forfeiture of the bond amount and possible arrest.

No, in some cases, defendants may be released on their own recognizance without bail.

Yes, bond conditions often include collateral like property or vehicles.

Yes, a judge can modify bail conditions during subsequent court appearances.

A bail bondsman is a person or agency that provides bail money in exchange for a fee.

Bail is generally not applicable for very serious crimes like murder, depending on jurisdiction.

Cash bail is paid directly to the court, while a bond is an agreement often involving a third party.

Yes, a bail bondsman can arrest a defendant for violating the terms of the bond agreement.

No, bail or bond may not be an option for certain serious crimes or if the defendant is deemed a flight risk.