When someone's stress level explodes to an epic proportion and a 5-minute f-bomb-laden tirade is unleashed on the unlucky soul who was in the wrong place at the wrong time -- much like Christian Bale on the T4 set.
Pam was trying to study for her midterms in the library but the kid across the table kept tapping his pencil to his ipod making her Bale out and get suspended from the library for a week.
A phrase to describe someone's freak out which reminds others of when Christian Bale freaked out with a long, profanity-laced verbal freak out to the cinematographer on the set of "Terminator Salvation."
Can you believe Mark? He had a Bale moment at his kid's baseball game when he cussed out the Little League umpire in front of all the kids and families.
(n. from the same root as 'baleful'):
(1) an expensive and hasty government bailout of an entire industry
(2) a government bailout that creates negative incentives for corporate executives while doing little to resolve an underlying economic crisis
(3) a government bailout that causes more harm than good
Time will tell whether the Troubled Asset Relief Program is a bale-out that hurts the economy over the long-run.