Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive & transitive verb To run or cause to run off the rails.
  • intransitive & transitive verb To come or bring to a sudden halt.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In railroading, a switch which is designed to divert or throw a train or car from the track or to stop its further progress.
  • To cause to leave the rails or run off the track, as a railroad-train: as, the engine was derailed at the crossing.
  • To run off the track or rails.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To cause to run off from the rails of a railroad, as a locomotive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A device placed on railway tracks causing a train to derail.
  • verb transitive To cause to come off the tracks.
  • verb intransitive To come off the tracks.
  • verb intransitive To deviate from the previous course or direction.
  • verb transitive To cause to deviate from a set course or direction.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cause to run off the tracks
  • verb run off or leave the rails

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French dérailler : dé-, off (from Old French de-; see de–) + rail, rail (from English; see rail).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From de- + rail.

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