guardrail

noun

guard·​rail ˈgärd-ˌrāl 

: a railing guarding usually against danger

especially : a barrier placed along the edge of a highway at dangerous points

Synonyms of guardrail

• railing
• rail

Examples of guardrail in a Sentence

the car ran off the road, but fortunately only hit the guardrail

Recent Examples on the Web

If standard-setters fail to establish rigorous guardrails around AI auditing tools today, corporate America will remain entirely blind to the vulnerabilities embedded in tomorrow’s financial infrastructure. —Sean Stein Smith, Forbes.com, 18 June 2026

Colorado also provided little funding to promote awareness about gambling addiction and put limited guardrails in place to help people slow their betting habits. —Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 18 June 2026

Younger kids may require a Lightning McQueen bed with guardrails or other barriers to help prevent them from falling out of the bed, while older children sleeping in a twin bed may not have this issue. —Bestreviews, Mercury News, 17 June 2026

Communities around Illinois have resisted data centers, and there's bipartisan interest in creating guardrails for them, but the split between environmental concerns, labor, and the data center industry is significant. —Nikoel Hytrek, CBS News, 17 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for guardrail

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• email

Kids Definition

guardrail

noun

guard·​rail ˈgär-ˌdrāl 

: a protective railing placed along dangerous areas (as of a road)