bails up

Verb

bail up (third-person singular simple present bails up, present participle bailing up, simple past and past participle bailed up)

1. (Australia, transitive) To apply a bail to (a cow); to trap or corner.
   • There were six young heifers that had just calved. I ran them into the yard in true ‘Riverina’ fashion; bailed the first one up; shanghaied her off-side leg to a post; pulled up the stool; sat down with a bucket between my legs and started to milk.1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 25
2. (Australia, New Zealand, transitive) To stop (someone) to talk to them; to buttonhole.
   • I'm late because Debbie bailed me up on the phone.
3. (Australia, transitive) To rob (someone).
   • They bailed me up for fifty bucks.
4. (Australia, transitive) To corner (someone); to hold (someone) under threat of violence; for dogs to hold people or animals at bay.
5. (intransitive) For rocks, clay, etc. to build up around a drill.