rail
pronunciation
How to pronounce rail in British English:
UK [reɪl]
How to pronounce rail in American English:
US [reɪl]
-
- Noun:
- a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
- short for railway
- a bar or bars of rolled steel making a track along which vehicles can roll
- a horizontal bar (usually of wood)
- any of numerous widely distributed small wading birds of the family Rallidae having short wings and very long toes for running on soft mud
-
- Verb:
- complain bitterly
- enclose with rails
- provide with rails
- separate with a railing
- convey (goods etc.) by rails
- travel by rail or train
- lay with rails
- fish with a hand-line over the rails of a boat
- spread negative information about
- criticize severely
Word Origin
- rail
- rail: English has three words rail. The oldest, ‘rod, bar’ [13], comes via Old French reille ‘iron bar’ from Latin rēgula ‘straight stick, rod’, source of English regular and rule. The bird-name rail [15] goes back via Old Northern French raille to Vulgar Latin *rascula, which probably originated in imitation of the bird’s hoarse cry.And rail ‘complain, be abusive’ [15] comes via Old French railler ‘mock’ and Provençal ralhar ‘scoff’ from Vulgar Latin *ragulāre ‘bray’, an alteration of ragere ‘neigh, roar’. This in turn was a blend of Latin rugīre ‘bellow’ and Vulgar Latin *bragere ‘bray’ (source of English bray [13]). Raillery [17] and rally ‘tease’ [17] come from the same source.=> regular, rule; bray, rally
- rail (n.1)
- "horizontal bar passing from one post or support to another," c. 1300, from Old French reille "bolt, bar," from Vulgar Latin *regla, from Latin regula "straight stick," diminutive form related to regere "to straighten, guide" (see regal). Used figuratively for thinness from 1872. To be off the rails in a figurative sense is from 1848, an image from the railroads. In U.S. use, "A piece of timber, cleft, hewed, or sawed, inserted in upright posts for fencing" [Webster, 1830].
- rail (n.2)
- "small wading bird," mid-15c., from Old French raale (13c.), related to râler "to rattle," of unknown origin, perhaps imitative of its cry.
- rail (v.1)
- "complain," mid-15c., from Middle French railler "to tease or joke" (15c.), perhaps from Old Provençal ralhar "scoff, to chat, to joke," from Vulgar Latin *ragulare "to bray" (source also of Italian ragghiare "to bray"), from Late Latin ragere "to roar," probably of imitative origin. See rally (v.2). Related: Railed; railing.
- rail (v.2)
- "fence in with rails," late 14c., from rail (n.1). Related: Railed; railing.
Example
- 1. China 's high-speed rail plans have been highly controversial .
- 2. Instead , each rail is operated directly by its own actuator .
- 3. It also supplies london underground with rail lubricant .
- 4. Others rail at the costs of compliance .
- 5. A walkie-talkie on the porch rail chirped .