RAIL

rail

(noun) any of numerous widely distributed small wading birds of the family Rallidae having short wings and very long toes for running on soft mud

rail

(noun) a horizontal bar (usually of wood or metal)

rail

(noun) short for railway; “he traveled by rail”; “he was concerned with rail safety”

railing, rail

(noun) a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports

track, rail, rails, runway

(noun) a bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll

fulminate, rail

(verb) criticize severely; “He fulminated against the Republicans’ plan to cut Medicare”; “She railed against the bad social policies”

vilify, revile, vituperate, rail

(verb) spread negative information about; “The Nazi propaganda vilified the Jews”

rail, inveigh

(verb) complain bitterly

rail

(verb) fish with a handline over the rails of a boat; “They are railing for fresh fish”

rail

(verb) lay with rails; “hundreds of miles were railed out here”

train, rail

(verb) travel by rail or train; “They railed from Rome to Venice”; “She trained to Hamburg”

rail

(verb) convey (goods etc.) by rails; “fresh fruit are railed from Italy to Belgium”

rail, rail off

(verb) separate with a railing; “rail off the crowds from the Presidential palace”

rail

(verb) provide with rails; “The yard was railed”

rail, rail in

(verb) enclose with rails; “rail in the old graves”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

rail (plural rails)

A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.

The metal bar that makes the track for a railroad.

A railroad; a railway, as a means of transportation.

A horizontal piece of wood that serves to separate sections of a door or window.

(surfing) One of the lengthwise edges of a surfboard.

(internet) A vertical section on one side of a web page.

(drugs) A large line (portion or serving of a powdery illegal drug).

Verb

rail (third-person singular simple present rails, present participle railing, simple past and past participle railed)

(intransitive) To travel by railway.

(transitive) To enclose with rails or a railing.

(transitive) To range in a line.

to criticize severely.

Etymology 2

Noun

rail (plural rails)

Any of several birds in the family Rallidae.

Usage notes

• Not all birds in the family Rallidae are rails by their common name. The family also includes coots, moorhens, crakes, flufftails, waterhens and others.

Etymology 3

Verb

rail (third-person singular simple present rails, present participle railing, simple past and past participle railed)

To complain violently (against, about).

Etymology 4

Noun

rail (plural rails)

(obsolete) An item of clothing; a cloak or other garment; a dress.

(obsolete) Specifically, a woman's headscarf or neckerchief.

Etymology 5

Verb

rail (third-person singular simple present rails, present participle railing, simple past and past participle railed)

(obsolete, of a liquid) To gush, flow.

Anagrams

• Lair, aril, lair, lari, liar, lira, rial

Source: Wiktionary


Rail, n. Etym: [OE. reil, reýel, AS. hrægel, hrægl a garment; akin to OHG. hregil, OFries. hreil.]

Definition: An outer cloak or covering; a neckerchief for women. Fairholt.

Rail, v. i. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.]

Definition: To flow forth; to roll out; to course. [Obs.] Streams of tears from her fair eyes forth railing. Spenser.

Rail, n. Etym: [Akin to LG. & Sw. regel bar, bolt, G. riegel a rail, bar, or bolt, OHG, rigil, rigel, bar, bolt, and possibly to E. row a line.]

1. A bar of timber or metal, usually horizontal or nearly so, extending from one post or support to another, as in fences, balustrades, staircases, etc.

2. (Arch.)

Definition: A horizontal piece in a frame or paneling. See Illust. of Style.

3. (Railroad)

Definition: A bar of steel or iron, forming part of the track on which the wheels roll. It is usually shaped with reference to vertical strength, and is held in place by chairs, splices, etc.

4. (Naut.) (a) The stout, narrow plank that forms the top of the bulwarks. (b) The light, fencelike structures of wood or metal at the break of the deck, and elsewhere where such protection is needed. Rail fence. See under Fence.

– Rail guard. (a) A device attached to the front of a locomotive on each side for clearing the rail obstructions. (b) A guard rail. See under Guard.

– Rail joint (Railroad), a splice connecting the adjacent ends of rails, in distinction from a chair, which is merely a seat. The two devices are sometimes united. Among several hundred varieties, the fish joint is standard. See Fish joint, under Fish.

– Rail train (Iron & Steel Manuf.), a train of rolls in a rolling mill, for making rails for railroads from blooms or billets.

Rail, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Railed; p. pr. & vb. n. Railing.]

1. To inclose with rails or a railing. It ought to be fenced in and railed. Ayliffe.

2. To range in a line. [Obs.] They were brought to London all railed in ropes, like a team of horses in a cart. Bacon.

Rail, n. Etym: [F. râle, fr. râler to have a rattling in the throat; of German origin, and akin to E. rattle. See Rattle, v.] (Zoöl.)

Definition: Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds of the family Rallidæ, especially those of the genus Rallus, and of closely allied genera. They are prized as game birds.

Note: The common European water rail (Rallus aquaticus) is called also bilcock, skitty coot, and brook runner. The best known American species are the clapper rail, or salt-marsh hen (Rallus lonqirostris, var. crepitans); the king, or red-breasted, rail (R. elegans) (called also fresh-water marshhen); the lesser clapper, or Virginia, rail (R. Virginianus); and the Carolina, or sora, rail (Porzana Carolina). See Sora. Land rail (Zoöl.), the corncrake.

Rail, v. i. Etym: [F. railler; cf. Sp. rallar to grate, scrape, molest; perhaps fr. (assumed) LL. radiculare, fr. L. radere to scrape, grate. Cf. Rally to banter, Rase.]

Definition: To use insolent and reproachful language; to utter reproaches; to scoff; followed by at or against, formerly by on. Shak. And rail at arts he did not understand. Dryden. Lesbia forever on me rails. Swift.

Rail, v. t.

1. To rail at. [Obs.] Feltham.

2. To move or influence by railing. [R.] Rail the seal from off my bond. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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