Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The rail which separates the chancel or sanctuary of a church from the choir, or, where there is no choir, from the nave.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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As we stood at the chancel-rail I am afraid that the congregation, largely augmented, by this time, by late-comers -- for the doctor had spread the news through the village far and wide -- thought me but a very pale and quiet bridegroom.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 31, October, 1873 Various
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But you are not, after all, married to the girl you met at the chancel-rail, so long and long ago, with unforgotten tremblings of the knees.
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About the twelfth century when the custom arose of receiving under one kind only, the priests placed the small Hosts on the tongues of the communicants at the chancel-rail.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913
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Colonel Ferrari rose from his place and moved up to the chancel-rail, beckoning to the other officers to accompany him.
The Gadfly 1912
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The altar, without chancel-rail, stood on a crimson-covered platform.
The Golden House 1865
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Profound obeisances were made towards the altar; the hymn was ended; the choristers took their places; and one of the priests, on arriving in front of the chancel-rail, began the intoning of the Litany.
The Secrets of the Great City James Dabney McCabe 1862
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-- she was sitting at the foot of the chancel-rail, with her stocking as usual.
The Seaboard Parish Volume 3 George MacDonald 1864
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-- she was sitting at the foot of the chancel-rail, with her stocking as usual.
The Seaboard Parish, Complete George MacDonald 1864
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