rail
A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.
Noun 4 meanings
A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.
The metal bar forming part of the track for a railroad.
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.”
Verb 4 meanings
To travel by railway.
To place on a track.
To enclose with rails or a railing.
“They ought to rail off the playground.”
To range in a line.
Etymology
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.
Similar and opposite words
RAIL at a glance
RAIL has 4 letters and scores 4 points in Scrabble (R 1 + A 1 + I 1 + L 1) and 5 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #3,510 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with rail
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