rail Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
    railing.
  2. noun short for railway
    • he traveled by rail
    • he was concerned with rail safety
  3. noun a bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll
    track; runway; rails.
  4. noun a horizontal bar (usually of wood or metal)
  5. 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
  6. verb complain bitterly
    inveigh.
  7. verb enclose with rails
    rail in.
    • rail in the old graves
  8. verb provide with rails
    • The yard was railed
  9. verb separate with a railing
    rail off.
    • rail off the crowds from the Presidential palace
  10. verb convey (goods etc.) by rails
    • fresh fruit are railed from Italy to Belgium
  11. verb travel by rail or train
    train.
    • They railed from Rome to Venice
    • She trained to Hamburg
  12. verb lay with rails
    • hundreds of miles were railed out here
  13. verb fish with a handline over the rails of a boat
    • They are railing for fresh fish
  14. verb spread negative information about
    vituperate; vilify; revile.
    • The Nazi propaganda vilified the Jews
  15. verb criticize severely
    fulminate.
    • He fulminated against the Republicans' plan to cut Medicare
    • She railed against the bad social policies

WordNet

Rail noun
Etymology
OE. reil, reýel, AS. hrægel, hrægl a garment; akin to OHG. hregil, OFries. hreil.
Definitions
  1. An outer cloak or covering; a neckerchief for women. Fairholt.
Rail intransitive verb
Etymology
Etymol. uncertain.
Definitions
  1. To flow forth; to roll out; to course. Obs.
    Streams of tears from her fair eyes forth railing. Spenser.
Rail noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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.) A horizontal piece in a frame or paneling. See Illust. of Style.
  3. (Railroad) 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 transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Railed ; present participle & verbal noun Railing
Definitions
  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 noun
Etymology
F. râle, fr. râler to have a rattling in the throat; of German origin, and akin to E. rattle. See Rattle, v.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) 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. ✍ 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.
Rail intransitive verb
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  1. 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 transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To rail at. Obs. Feltham.
  2. To move or influence by railing. R.
    Rail the seal from off my bond. Shak.

Webster 1913