Dictionary
rail
Pronunciation: (rāl), [key]—
n.
1. a bar of wood or metal fixed horizontally for any of various purposes, as for a support, barrier, fence, or railing.
2. a fence; railing.
3. one of two fences marking the inside and outside boundaries of a racetrack.
4. one of a pair of steel bars that provide the running surfaces for the wheels of locomotives and railroad cars. See illus. under
flange.
5. the railroad as a means of transportation:
to travel by rail.
6. rails,stocks or bonds of railroad companies.
7. Naut.a horizontal member capping a bulwark.
8. Carpentry, Furniture.any of various horizontal members framing panels or the like, as in a system of paneling, paneled door, window sash, or chest of drawers. Cf.
stile 2.
9. Slang.a line of cocaine crystals or powder for inhaling through the nose.
—
v.t.
to furnish or enclose with a rail or rails.
rail
Pronunciation: (rāl), [key]—
v.i.
to utter bitter complaint or vehement denunciation (often fol. by
at or
against):
to rail at fate.
—
v.t.
to bring, force, etc., by railing.
rail
Pronunciation: (rāl), [key]—
n.
any of numerous birds of the family Rallidae, that have short wings, a narrow body, long toes, and a harsh cry and inhabit grasslands, forests, and marshes in most parts of the world.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
