rail

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“
This rail was a convenient rendezvous for all the babies belonging to the swallow flock, a sort of

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Definitions (82)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (8)

  1. noun A bar extending horizontally between supports, as in a fence.
  2. noun A structure made of such bars and supports and forming a barrier or guard; a railing.
  3. noun A steel bar used, usually in pairs, as a track for railroad cars or other wheeled vehicles.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (52)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (7)

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Examples (50)

  • For one thing, the vessel appeared very old, and it could be seen that the hull had been put together with thongs of hide Some of the hide seemed new, as did the sail, but the shields along the rail were amazingly rusted The Viking ship had a smell, too, a very strong one. —  029 - Quest of Qui
  • On one end of the rail was a bunch of blue items with white patterns, shiny, some kind of a man-made material. —  Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child
  • In the prior frame, .25 seconds earlier, the rail was angled to the right of vertical. —  The J Curve
  • Aaron Gray shows off his skateboard prowess with a grind on a rail from the American Ramp Company. —  Leavenworth Times Homepage RSS
  • But the rail is a one-piece bit of trim, and there is nothing inherent in the design of the cabinet car boxes that provides a ledge or similar device to stop against and / or register to. —  BabyTrollBlog
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Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

deck ·  frame ·  bridge ·  wire ·  wheel ·  bar ·  fence ·  pole ·  beam ·  plank ·  panel ·  wall

Used in the same contextWord Family

rail:   railing ·  rails ·  railed

Etymologies (11)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. Middle English raile, from Old French reille, from Latin rēgula, straight piece of wood, ruler; see reg- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English raile, from Old French raale, perhaps from Old French raler, racler, to scrape, from Old Provençal rasclar; see raclette.
  3. Middle English railen, from Old French railler, to tease, joke, from Old Provençal ralhar, to chat, joke, from Vulgar Latin *ragulāre, to bray, from Late Latin ragere.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (8)

  1. from Middle English rail, raile, rayl, *reʒel, *reʒol (in comp, reʒolsticke, a ruler), partly from Anglo-Saxon regol (not found in sense of ‘bar’ or ‘rail’ except as in regolsticca (later ME, reʒolsticke), a ruler, a straight bar, but common in the derived sense ‘a rule of action,’ = Middle Dutch reghel, rijghel, rijchel, richel, a bar, rail, bolt, later richgel, a bar, shelf, Dutch rigchel, a bar, = Middle Low German regel, Low German regel, a rail, cross-bar, = Old High German rigil, Middle High German rigel, German riegel, a bar, bolt, rail, = Swedish regel = Danish rigel, adjective bar, bolt; partly from Old French reille, raille, roille, roile, reilhe, relle, rele, a bar, rail, bolt, board, plank, ladder, plow-handle, furrow, row, etc., F. dial, reille, ladder, reille, raille, plowshare (from Low German); from Latin regula, a straight piece of wood, a stick, bar, staff, rod, rule, ruler, hence a rule, pattern, model: see rule. Rail is thus a doublet of rule, derived through Anglo-Saxon, while rule is derived through Old French, from the same Latin word. Cf. rail.
  2. from Middle English railen, raylen (= Old High German rigilōn, Middle High German rigelen, German riegeln), rail; cf. Old French reillier, roillier, raillier, inclose with rails, bar; from the noun. Cf. rail, v.
  3. from Middle English railen, raylen, from Anglo-Saxon as if *regolian (= Dutch regelen = German regeln), set in order, rule, regol = D. G. Swedish Danish regel, from Latin regula, a rule: see rail, and cf, rule. Cf. Old French reillier, roillier, rail, bar, also stripe, from the noun.
  4. Early modern English, also rayle; from Middle English rail, reil, reʒel, Anglo-Saxon hrægel, hrægl, a garment, dress, robe, plural clothes, = Old Saxon hregil = OFries. hreil, reyl, reil = Old High German hregil, clothing, garment, dress; root unknown.
  5. Middle English railen; from rail, v.
  6. Early modern English rayle; from Old French raale, rasle, French râle (later G. ralle, Middle Latin rallus), French dial. reille, a rail; so called from its cry; cf. Old French rasle, French râle, a rattling in the throat; from Old French raller, French râler, rattle in the throat, from Middle Dutch ratelen, rattle, make a noise: see rattle. Cf. also D. rallen, rellen, make a noise, Swedish ralla, chatter (rallfågel, a rail), Danish ralle, rattle.
  7. Early modern English rayle; from Old French railler, French railler, jest, deride, mock, = Spanish rallar, grate, scrape, vex, molest, = Portuguese ralar, scrape, rub, vex, from Latin as if *radulare, diminutive or freq. of radere, scrape, scratch: see rase, raze. Cf. Latin rallum (contr. of *radlum), a scraper, radula, a scraping-iron: see radula. Hence rally, raillery.
  8. Early modern English rayle; from Middle English railen, reilen, roilen, flow, prob. a variant of roilen, roll, wander: see roil.
 

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/reɪl/
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