English Online Dictionary. What means rail? What does rail mean?
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: rāl, IPA(key): /ɹeɪl/, [ɹeɪɫ]
- Rhymes: -eɪl
Etymology 1
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
rail (plural rails)
- 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.
- (electronics) A conductor maintained at a fixed electrical potential relative to ground, to which other circuit components are connected.
- A horizontal piece of wood that serves to separate sections of a door or window.
- (surfing) One of the lengthwise edges of a surfboard.
- c. 2000, Nick Carroll, surfline.com [2]:
- Rails alone can only ever have a marginal effect on a board's general turning ability.
- c. 2000, Nick Carroll, surfline.com [2]:
- (Internet) A vertical section on one side of a web page.
- (drugs) A large line (portion or serving of a powdery illegal drug).
- Each of two vertical side bars supporting the rungs of a ladder.
- Synonyms: stile, stringer
- (backgammon) The raised edge of the game board.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
Verb
rail (third-person singular simple present rails, present participle railing, simple past and past participle railed)
- (intransitive) To travel by railway.
- (transitive, rail transport, of rolling stock) To place on a track.
- (transitive) To enclose with rails or a railing.
- (transitive) To range in a line.
- (transitive, vulgar, slang) To sexually penetrate in a rough manner.
Derived terms
- derail
- rerail
- unrail
Translations
Etymology 2
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
rail (plural rails)
Wikispecies
- Any of several birds in the family Rallidae.
Usage notes
- Not all birds in the family Rallidae are rails by their common name. The family also includes coots, moorhens, crakes, flufftails, waterhens and others.
Derived terms
- Aldabra rail
- Aztec rail (Rallus tenuirostris)
- banded rail
- barred rail (Hypotaenidia okinawae)
- bar-winged rail
- buff-banded rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis)
- Calayan rail (Gallirallus calayanensis)
- Chatham rail
- chestnut rail (Eulabeornis castaneoventris)
- clapper rail (Rallus crepitans)
- Dieffenbach's rail
- forest rail (Rallicula spp.)
- grey-throated rail (Canirallus oculeus)
- Guam rail (Hypotaenidia owstoni)
- Inaccessible Island rail
- invisible rail
- king rail (Rallus elegans)
- Laysan rail
- mangrove rail (Rallus longirostris)
- Mexican rail
- New Guinea flightless rail
- Nkulengu rail
- Okinawa rail (Hypotaenidia okinawae)
- pink-legged rail (Hypotaenidia insignis)
- red rail
- Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus)
- Rouget's rail
- Roviana rail (Hypotaeinidia rovianae)
- snoring rail (Aramidopsis plateri)
- Virginia rail
- water rail (Rallus aquaticus)
- white-throated rail
- Woodford's rail (Hypotaenidia woodfordi)
- wood rail (Aramides spp.)
- Zapata rail
Related terms
- ralline
Translations
See also
- corncrake
Etymology 3
From Middle French railler.
Verb
rail (third-person singular simple present rails, present participle railing, simple past and past participle railed)
- To complain violently (against, about).
- Synonyms: fulminate, inveigh
- 1910, "Saki", H. H. Munro, The Bag,[4]
- The Major’s fury clothed and reclothed itself in words as frantically as a woman up in town for one day’s shopping tries on a succession of garments. He reviled and railed at fate and the general scheme of things, he pitied himself with a strong, deep pity too poignant for tears, he condemned every one with whom he had ever come in contact to endless and abnormal punishments.
Derived terms
- raillery
Translations
Etymology 4
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”).
Alternative forms
- rayle
Noun
rail (plural rails)
- (obsolete) An item of clothing; a cloak or other garment; a dress.
- (obsolete) Specifically, a woman's headscarf or neckerchief.
Derived terms
- night-rail
Etymology 5
Probably from Anglo-Norman raier, Middle French raier.
Verb
rail (third-person singular simple present rails, present participle railing, simple past and past participle railed)
- (obsolete, of a liquid) To gush; to flow.
- (obsolete, of wind) To blow.
See also
- ride the rail
Anagrams
- Lair, aril, lair, lari, liar, lira, rial
Catalan
Alternative forms
- raïl (superseded)
Etymology
Borrowed from English rail.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈrajl]
Noun
rail m (plural rails)
- rail
- Synonym: carril
Further reading
- “rail” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from English rail.
Pronunciation
- (Belgium) IPA(key): /rel/
- (Netherlands) IPA(key): /reːl/
Noun
rail f (plural rails, diminutive railsje n or railtje n)
- rail
Usage notes
The diminutive railsjes is only used if used for railway tracks.
Descendants
- → Caribbean Javanese: ril
- → Indonesian: rel
References
French
Etymology
Borrowed from English rail. Doublet of règle, reille, rigole, and rille.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʁaj/
- Homophone: raï
Noun
rail m (plural rails)
- rail
Further reading
- “rail”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- lira
Spanish
Noun
rail m (plural railes)
- (rare) Alternative form of raíl
Further reading
- “rail”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10