RAIL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Rail

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/reɪl/ Listen

noun

Rail n. An outer cloak or covering; a neckerchief for women.

Rail n.

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.

(Arch.) A horizontal piece in a frame or paneling.

(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.

(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.

A railroad as a means of transportation; as, to go by rail; a place not accesible by rail.

A railing.

Rail fence. See under Fence.

Rail guard.

(a)

A device attached to the front of a locomotive on each side for clearing the rail of 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 n. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds of the family Rallidae, 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 longirostris, var. crepitans); the king, or red-breasted, rail (Rallus elegans) (called also fresh-water marshhen); the lesser clapper, or Virginia, rail (Rallus Virginianus); and the Carolina, or sora, rail (Porzana Carolina). See Sora.

Land rail (Zool.), the corncrake.

verb

Rail v. t. (past & past part. railed; pres. part. railing)

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

To range in a line. (Obs.) "They were brought to London all railed in ropes, like a team of horses in a cart."

Rail v. t.

To rail at. (Obs.)

To move or influence by railing. (R.) "Rail the seal from off my bond."

Rail v. i. To flow forth; to roll out; to course. (Obs.) "Streams of tears from her fair eyes forth railing."

Rail v. i. To use insolent and reproachful language; to utter reproaches; to scoff; followed by at or against, formerly by on. "And rail at arts he did not understand." "Lesbia forever on me rails."

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Etymology of 'Rail'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Rail" Quotes from Famous Books

... except room, heat and water (and the heat costs extra); there is no sanitation for any one at any price; every guest dumps all his discarded rubbish over the balcony rail into the courtyard, to be trodden and wheeled under foot and help build the aroma. But the guests provide a picture without price that with the very first glimpse ...

— The Eye of Zeitoon • Talbot Mundy

... speech, came to take the place of the tandem. The engine of these men of the North was much smaller than the others, but her cab was much larger, and would be a fair shelter on a stormy night. They had also built seats with hooks by which they hang them to the rail, and thus are still enabled to see through the round windows without dislocating their necks. All the human parts of the cab were covered with oilcloth. The wind that swirled from the dim twilight horizon made the warm glow from the furnace to be a ...

— Men, Women, and Boats • Stephen Crane

... King!" he thundered, and with that loyal music in his ears the King followed Brilliana down the great staircase over which the carven angels kept watch and ward. Halfman, leaning over the rail-way, saw the pair pass through the hall, then he turned and entered the apartment that Charles had left, and stood there, ...

— The Lady of Loyalty House - A Novel • Justin Huntly McCarthy

... like the dogs who meet in the street, and it is impossible to conjecture whether the mutual scenting will be followed up by a growl or a wag of the tail; however, one remark will soon discover the political sentiments of the whole party. Should they all agree, they are so busy in abuse that they rail at their adversaries with their mouths full—should they disagree, they dispute so vehemently that they forget that they were invited to dinner, and the dishes are removed untasted, and the duties of the Amphytryon become a sinecure. Go to an evening party or a ball and ...

— Olla Podrida • Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)

... disappeared as if he had never been. It was given out that he had either thrown himself overboard or fallen overboard in the heavy weather that we were having. Only one man knew what had happened to him, and that was me, for with my own eyes I saw the skipper tip up his heels and put him over the rail in the middle watch of a dark night, two days before we sighted the ...

— The Return of Sherlock Holmes - Magazine Edition • Arthur Conan Doyle

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