rail1
/
reɪl/
n.
- a bar or bars fixed on upright supports or attached to a wall or ceiling, serving as part of a fence or barrier or used to hang things on.
- a steel bar or line of bars laid on the ground as one of a pair forming a railway track.
- railways as a means of transport.
- a horizontal piece in the frame of a panelled door or sash window. Compare with stile2.
- the edge of a surfboard or sailboard.
- Electronics a conductor which is maintained at a fixed potential and to which other parts of a circuit are connected.
v.
- provide or enclose with a rail or rails.
- convey (goods) by rail.
- (in windsurfing) sail the board on its edge.
Phrase
- go off the rails
informal begin behaving in an uncontrolled way. - on the rails
- informal functioning in a normal or regulated way.
- (of a racehorse or jockey) in a position on the racetrack nearest the inside fence.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from OFr. reille ‘iron rod’, from L. regula ‘straight stick, rule’.
rail2
v.
(
rail against/at)
complain or protest strongly about or to.
Derivative
Etymology
ME: from Fr. railler, from Provençal ralhar ‘to jest’, based on an alt. of L. rugire ‘to bellow’.
rail3
n.
a secretive waterside bird with typically drab grey and brown plumage.
[
Rallus and other genera, family Rallidae.]
Etymology
ME: from Old North. Fr. raille, perh. imitative.