Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Rail
Rail
(rāl)
, Noun.
[OE.
reil
, reȝel
, AS. hrægel
, hrægl
, a garment; akin to OHG. hregil
, OFries. hreil
.] An outer cloak or covering; a neckerchief for women.
Fairholt.
Rail
,Verb.
I.
[Etymol. uncertain.]
To flow forth; to roll out; to course.
[Obs.]
Streams of tears from her fair eyes forth
railing
. Spenser.
Rail
,Noun.
[Akin to LG. & Sw.
regel
bar, bolt, G. riegel
a rail, bar, or bolt, OHG. rigil
, rigel
, bar, bolt, and possibly to E. row
a line.] 1.
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.
3.
(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.
4.
(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.
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
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Railed
(rāld)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Railing
.] 1.
To inclose with rails or a railing.
It ought to be fenced in and
railed
. Ayliffe.
2.
To range in a line.
[Obs.]
They were brought to London all
railed
in ropes, like a team of horses in a cart. Bacon.
Rail
,Noun.
[F. ]
râle
, fr. râler
to have a rattling in the throat; of German origin, and akin to E. rattle
. See Rattle
, Verb.
(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. ☞ 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.
Rail
,Verb.
I.
[F.
railler
; cf. Sp. rallar
to grate, scrape, molest; perhaps fr. (assumed) LL. radiculare
, fr. L. radere
to scrape, grate. Cf. Rally
to banter, Rase
.] To use insolent and reproachful language; to utter reproaches; to scoff; – followed by
at
or against
, formerly by on
. Shak.
And
rail
at arts he did not understand. Dryden.
Lesbia forever on me
rails
. Swift.
Rail
(rāl)
, Verb.
T.
1.
To rail at.
[Obs.]
Feltham.
2.
To move or influence by railing.
[R.]
Rail
the seal from off my bond. Shakespeare
Webster 1828 Edition
Rail
RAIL
, n.1.
A cross beam fixed at the ends in two upright posts.[In New England, this is never called a beam; pieces of timber of the proper size for rails are called scantling.]
2.
In the United States, a piece of timber cleft, hewed or sawed, rough or smooth, inserted in upright posts for fencing. The common rails among farmers, are rough, being used as they are split from the chestnut or other trees. The rails used in fences of boards or pickets round gentlemen's houses and gardens, are usually sawed scantling and often dressed with the plane.3.
A bar of wood or iron used for inclosing any place; the piece into which ballusters are inserted.4.
A series of posts connected with cross beams, by which a place is inclosed.In New England we never call this series a rail, but by the general term railing. In a picket fence, the pales or pickets rise above the rails; in a ballustrade, or fence resembling it, the ballusters usually terminate in the rails.
5.
In a ship, a narrow plank nailed for ornament or security on a ship's upper works; also, a curved piece of timber extending from the bows of a ship to the continuation of its stern, to support the knee of the head, &c.RAIL
,Noun.
RAIL
, n.A woman's upper garment; retained in the word nightrail, but not used in the United States.
RAIL
, v.t.1.
To inclose with rails.2.
To range in a line.RAIL
,Verb.
I.
To utter reproaches; to scoff; to use insolent and reproachful language; to reproach or censure in opprobrious terms; followed by at or against, formerly by on.
And rail at arts he did not understand.
Lesbia forever on e rails.