(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is a horizontal bar attached to posts or fixed round the edge of something as a fence or support.
She gripped the hand ~ in the lift.
N-COUNT: oft supp N
2.
A ~ is a horizontal bar that you hang things on.
This pair of curtains will fit a ~ up to 7ft 6in wide.
N-COUNT
3.
Rails are the steel bars which trains run on.
The train left the ~s but somehow forced its way back onto the line.
= track
N-COUNT: usu pl
4.
If you travel or send something by ~, you travel or send it on a train.
The president traveled by ~ to his home town.
N-UNCOUNT: oft N n
5.
If you ~ against something, you criticize it loudly and angrily. (WRITTEN)
He ~ed against hypocrisy and greed...
VERB: V against/at n
6.
see also ~ing
7.
If something is back on the ~s, it is beginning to be successful again after a period when it almost failed. (JOURNALISM)
They are keen to get the negotiating process back on the ~s...
PHRASE
8.
If someone goes off the ~s, they start to behave in a way that other people think is unacceptable or very strange, for example they start taking drugs or breaking the law.
They’ve got to do something about these children because clearly they’ve gone off the ~s.
PHRASE: V inflects