rail
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rail¹
- /ɹeɪ(ə)l/
- [ɹeɪ(ə)ɫ]
- /reɪl/ South Asia
- /reːl/ South Asia
- /raɪl/ South Asia
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English rail, rayl, *reȝel, *reȝol (found in reȝolsticke (“a ruler”)), partly from Old English regol (“a ruler, straight bar”) and partly from Old French reille; both from Latin regula (“rule, bar”), from regō (“to rule, to guide, to govern”); see regular. Doublet of regal, regula, rigol, and rule.
noun rails
- A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing. Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.
- The metal bar forming part of the track for a railroad. A "moving platform" scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.
- A railroad; a railway, as a means of transportation. We travelled to the seaside by rail.
- A conductor maintained at a fixed electrical potential relative to ground, to which other circuit components are connected. ISA devices draw power from the +5 V, −5 V, +12 V, and −12 V rails of the power supply unit.
- A horizontal piece of wood that serves to separate sections of a door or window.
- One of the lengthwise edges of a surfboard. Rails alone can only ever have a marginal effect on a board's general turning ability.
- A vertical section on one side of a web page. We're experimenting with ads in the right-hand rail.
- A large line (portion or serving of a powdery illegal drug). Do a couple rails and chase your own tail
- Each of two vertical side bars supporting the rungs of a ladder.
- The raised edge of the game board.
verb rails · railing · railed
- To travel by railway. Mottram of the Indian Survey had ridden thirty and railed one hundred miles from his lonely post in the desert […]
- To place on a track.
- To enclose with rails or a railing. They ought to rail off the playground.
- To range in a line. They were brought to London all railed in ropes, like a team of horses in a cart.
- To sexually penetrate in a rough manner.
- To snort a line of powdered drugs. All I can think about is being seventeen days sober and desperate to rail a line of blow after last night's group outing to see Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring (at my request), which, in hindsight, was a fucking dumb thing for a rehab to approve of.
rail²
- /ɹeɪ(ə)l/
- [ɹeɪ(ə)ɫ]
- /reɪl/ South Asia
- /reːl/ South Asia
- /raɪl/ South Asia
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From French râle, rale, from Middle French raalle, from Old French rasle. Compare Medieval Latin rallus. Named from its harsh cry, Vulgar Latin *rasculum, from Latin rādere (“to scrape”).
noun rails
- Any of several birds in the family Rallidae.
rail³
- /ɹeɪ(ə)l/
- [ɹeɪ(ə)ɫ]
- /reɪl/ South Asia
- /reːl/ South Asia
- /raɪl/ South Asia
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle French railler.
rail⁴
- /ɹeɪ(ə)l/
- [ɹeɪ(ə)ɫ]
- /reɪl/ South Asia
- /reːl/ South Asia
- /raɪl/ South Asia
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From Middle English rail, reil, from Old English hræġl (“garment, dress, robe”). Cognate with Old Frisian hreil, reil, Old Saxon hregil, Old High German hregil (“clothing, garment, dress”).
noun rails · rayle
- An item of clothing; a cloak or other garment; a dress.
- Specifically, a woman's headscarf or neckerchief. A course hempen raile about her shoulders.
rail⁵
- /ɹeɪ(ə)l/
- [ɹeɪ(ə)ɫ]
- /reɪl/ South Asia
- /reːl/ South Asia
- /raɪl/ South Asia
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
Probably from Anglo-Norman raier, Middle French raier.
verb rails · railing · railed
- To gush; to flow. his breste and his brayle was bloodé – and hit rayled all over the see.
- To blow.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: track, fulminate, revile, vituperate, inveigh, vilify, handrail, banister, ramp, balustrade, fence, wagon, carriage, road, lane, gate
Translations
Every language
noun horizontal bar; railing
| Español | barra, barandilla, barandal |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 手摺 tesuri, 手すり tesuri |
| Português | corrimão, ferrovia |
| Deutsch | Geländer, (naut.) Reling |
| Italiano | parapetto, balaustra, grata, inferriata, ringhiera, corrimano |
| Ελληνικά | κάγκελο kágkelo, ράγα rága |
| Русский | перекла́дина perekládina, попере́чина poperéčina, пери́ла períla, по́ручень póručenʹ |
noun metal bar
| Español | raíl, riel, rail |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 선로 seollo, 레일 reil |
| 日本語 | 線路 senro, レール rēru |
| 中文 | 軌 /轨 guǐ, 鐵軌 /铁轨 tiěguǐ |
| Português | trilho, carril |
| Français | rail |
| Deutsch | Schiene, Gleis |
| Italiano | rotaia |
| Ελληνικά | ράγα rága |
| Română | șină |
| Русский | рельс relʹs |
noun horizontal piece of wood in a door or window
| Deutsch | Kreuz, Fensterkreuz, Türkreuz, Balken |
|---|---|
| Italiano | asta divisoria, divisorio, barra |
noun lengthwise edges of a surfboard
| Italiano | battagliola |
|---|
noun small bird in the family Rallidae
| Español | rascón |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 水鶏, 秧鶏 kuina |
| Français | râle |
| Deutsch | Ralle |
| Italiano | rallo, porciglione |
| Русский | пастушо́к pastušók |
verb to complain
| 日本語 | 罵る nonoshiru, ゴネる goneru |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | hetzen |
| Italiano | lamentarsi, recriminare, inveire |
| Русский | руга́ть rugátʹ |
| עברית | התלונן |
Talk about this word "rail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rail. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. rail. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rail "rail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rail.Cite this
@misc{rail_2026,
title = {rail},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rail},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
