rail
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A horizontal bar used as a fence, or a metal track for trains
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
raylIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹeɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.
A horizontal bar (usually of wood or metal)
A railroad; a railway, as a means of transportation.
A bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll
A horizontal piece of wood that serves to separate sections of a door or window.
Each of two vertical side bars supporting the rungs of a ladder.
verb
transitive
To range in a line.
Complain bitterly
To complain violently (against, about).
Travel by rail or train
“They railed from Rome to Venice.”
intransitive
To travel by railway.
Lay with rails
“Hundreds of miles were railed out here.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.
Used this way, rail is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A bar or pair of parallel bars of rolled steel making the railway along which railroad cars or other vehicles can roll.
A barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The activity of designing and constructing and operating railroads.
A laborer who splits logs to build split-rail fences.
Separate with a railing.
The road consisting of railroad track and roadbed.
A fence (usually made of split logs laid across each other at an angle).
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A wheeled vehicle adapted to the rails of railroad.
One of the cross braces that support the rails on a railway track.
A wheeled vehicle adapted to the rails of railroad.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.