rail 1
— railless , adj. — raillike , adj.
/rayl/ , n.
1. a bar of wood or metal fixed horizontally for any of various purposes, as for a support, barrier, fence, or railing.
2. a fence; railing.
3. one of two fences marking the inside and outside boundaries of a racetrack.
4. one of a pair of steel bars that provide the running surfaces for the wheels of locomotives and railroad cars. See illus. under flange .
5. the railroad as a means of transportation: to travel by rail.
6. rails , stocks or bonds of railroad companies.
7. Naut. a horizontal member capping a bulwark.
8. Carpentry , Furniture. any of various horizontal members framing panels or the like, as in a system of paneling, paneled door, window sash, or chest of drawers. Cf. stile 2 .
9. Slang. a line of cocaine crystals or powder for inhaling through the nose.
v.t.
10. to furnish or enclose with a rail or rails.
[ 1250-1300; ME raile raille bar, beam regula bar, straight piece of wood, REGULA ]
rail 2
— railer , n. — railingly , adv.
/rayl/ , v.i.
1. to utter bitter complaint or vehement denunciation (often fol. by at or against ): to rail at fate.
v.t.
2. to bring, force, etc., by railing.
[ 1425-75; late ME railen railler to deride
ralhar to chatter ragulare, deriv. of LL ragere to bray ]
Syn. 1. fulminate, inveigh, castigate, rant, revile.
rail 3
/rayl/ , n.
any of numerous birds of the family Rallidae, that have short wings, a narrow body, long toes, and a harsh cry and inhabit grasslands, forests, and marshes in most parts of the world.
[ 1400-50; late ME rale raale (c. Pr rascla ), n. deriv. of raler rasiculare freq. of L radere (ptp. rasus ) to scratch ]