rail

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈrāl 

1

a

: a bar extending from one post or support to another and serving as a guard or barrier

b

: a structural member or support

2

a

: railing sense 1

b

: a light structure serving as a guard at the outer edge of a ship's deck

c

: a fence bounding a racetrack

3

a

: a bar of rolled steel forming a track for wheeled vehicles

b

: track

c

: railroad

rail

2 of 4

verb (1)

railed; railing; rails

transitive verb

: to provide with a railing : fence

rail

3 of 4

noun (2)

plural rail or rails

: any of numerous wading birds (family Rallidae, the rail family) that are of small or medium size and have short rounded wings, a short tail, and usually very long toes which enable them to run on the soft mud of marshes

Illustration of rail

rail

4 of 4

verb (2)

railed; railing; rails

intransitive verb

: to revile or scold in harsh, insolent, or abusive language

railer noun

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• railing

Verb (2)

• scold
• lecture
• reprimand
• call down
• dress down
• bawl out
• read the riot act (to)
• chew out
• blame

Choose the Right Synonym for rail

scold, upbraid, berate, rail, revile, vituperate mean to reproach angrily and abusively.

scold implies rebuking in irritation or ill temper justly or unjustly.

angrily scolding the children

upbraid implies censuring on definite and usually justifiable grounds.

upbraided her assistants for poor research

berate suggests prolonged and often abusive scolding.

berated continually by an overbearing boss

rail (at or against) stresses an unrestrained berating.

railed loudly at their insolence

revile implies a scurrilous, abusive attack prompted by anger or hatred.

an alleged killer reviled in the press

vituperate suggests a violent reviling.

was vituperated for betraying his friends

Examples of rail in a Sentence

Noun (1)

the stairs are icy, so hold onto the rail

an abandoned stretch of rail that was overgrown with brush

Verb (2)

we could hear the cook in the kitchen railing against his assistant and wondered if we'd ever get our food

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Since then, things have gone completely off the rails and become a worst-case scenario for Dallas. —Kevin McCormick, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Aug. 2025

The season could have easily gone off the rails had the Valkyries come out of the week with a losing record. —Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2025

Verb

Mexico’s protest comes on the back of a wave of similar protests across Europe railing against mass tourism. —Sydney Lake, Fortune, 8 July 2025

Trump had railed against the tax on online companies, including US corporations that do business in Canada. —David Goldman, CNN Money, 7 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English raile, from Anglo-French raille, reille bar, rule, from Latin regula straightedge, rule — more at rule

Noun (2)

Middle English raile, from Middle French raalle

Verb (2)

Middle English, from Middle French railler to mock, probably from Old French reillier to growl, mutter, from Vulgar Latin *ragulare to bray, from Late Latin ragere to neigh

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing rail

• altar rail
• chair rail
• clapper rail
• commuter rail
• fife rail
• light-rail
• night rail
• passenger rail
• plate rail
• rail-splitter
• split rail
• third rail
• towel rail
• Virginia rail

Rhymes for rail

• ail
• ale
• bail
• baile
• dail
• fail
• flail
• frail
• gael
• gail
• grail
• hail

Kids Definition

rail

1 of 4 noun

ˈrā(ə)l 

1

a

: a bar extending from one support to another and serving as a guard or barrier

b

: railing sense 1

2

a

: a bar of steel forming a track for wheeled vehicles

b

: railroad

rail

2 of 4 verb

: to provide with a railing

rail

3 of 4 noun

plural rails or rail

: any of various small wading birds related to the cranes

rail

4 of 4 verb

: to scold or complain in harsh or bitter language

railer noun

Etymology

Noun

Middle English raile "bar, rail," from early French raille, reille "bar, ruler," from Latin regula "straightedge, ruler," from regere "to lead straight, govern, rule" — related to regent, regulate, rule

Noun

Middle English raile "rail (the bird)," from early French raalie (same meaning)

Verb

Middle English railen "to scold, be abusive to," from early French railler "to mock," probably derived from Latin ragere "to neigh"