rail
1 Americannoun
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a bar of wood or metal fixed horizontally for any of various purposes, as for a support, barrier, fence, or railing.
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a fence; railing.
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one of two fences marking the inside and outside boundaries of a racetrack.
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one of a pair of steel bars that provide the running surfaces for the wheels of locomotives and railroad cars.
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the railroad as a means of transportation.
to travel by rail.
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rails, stocks or bonds of railroad companies.
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Nautical. a horizontal member capping a bulwark.
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Carpentry, Furniture. any of various horizontal members framing panels or the like, as in a system of paneling, paneled door, window sash, or chest of drawers.
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Slang. a line of cocaine crystals or powder for inhaling through the nose.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
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a horizontal bar of wood, metal, etc, supported by vertical posts, functioning as a fence, barrier, handrail, etc
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a horizontal bar fixed to a wall on which to hang things
a picture rail
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a horizontal framing member in a door or piece of panelling Compare stile 2
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short for railing
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one of a pair of parallel bars laid on a prepared track, roadway, etc, that serve as a guide and running surface for the wheels of a railway train, tramcar, etc
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short for railway
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( as modifier )
rail transport
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nautical a trim for finishing the top of a bulwark
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into or in a state of dysfunction or disorder
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eccentric or mad
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verb
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to provide with a rail or railings
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to fence (an area) with rails
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
- railer noun
- railingly adverb
- railless adjective
- raillike adjective
Etymology
Origin of rail1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English raile, rail(le), from Old French raille, reille, Anglo-French raila, reyla “(horizontal) bar, beam,” from Latin rēgula “bar, straight piece of wood”; regula
Origin of rail2
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English railen, from Middle French railler “to mock, deride,” from Provençal ralhar “to babble, chatter,” from Vulgar Latin ragulāre (unattested), derivative of Late Latin ragere “to bray”
Origin of rail3
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English rale, rail, from Middle French raale, raille, from Old French rasle, noun derivative of râler, racler, from Vulgar Latin rāsiculāre (unattested), frequentative of Latin rādere (past participle rāsus ) “to scratch”
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 Metro D line, also known as the Purple Line, is unveiling the first phase of a rail expansion project beneath Wilshire Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times
For more than a decade, city officials have been contending with logistical hurdles to turn the busiest passenger rail hub in North America into an entirely new neighborhood.
The union has long viewed a salary cap as a third rail.
The new stations mark the first phase of a rail extension project on the Metro D line, also known as the Purple Line, beneath Wilshire Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times
Storm Ingrid and Storm Chandra then hit the south and south-west of the UK in the space of less than a week, adding to the flooding problems and bringing disruption to road and rail transport.
From BBC
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.
