as in to scold
to criticize (someone) severely or angrily especially for personal failings
we could hear the cook in the kitchen railing against his assistant and wondered if we'd ever get our food
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rail (at or against)
Verb
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Leon scolded Justice Department attorneys for arguing that the entire project needed to go forward for national security reasons, before previously distinguishing between the bunker below ground and the ballroom above ground.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
16 Apr. 2026 -
Government officials scolded young people for the signs of disrespect.—
Justin Spike,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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One cheeky Instagram Reel sees the two sitting across from each other at a table as Bradford pretended to lecture Brunette.—
Zoey Lyttle,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
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Should the guy who spends his spare time dodging bullets really be lecturing him on death wishes?—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Additionally, Cox reprimanded CalPERS in the decision, writing that staff members acted unprofessionally throughout the hearing and failed to provide evidence supporting CalPERS’ claims.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
14 Apr. 2026
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House members are able to act individually to bypass leadership and force action on privileged resolutions to reprimand each other, such as censure and expulsion.—
Emily Brooks,
The Hill,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
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At another point, NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman called down to Earth to NASA’s IT specialists on the ground to report that both versions of Microsoft’s email program Outlook installed on his computer were not working.—
Noah Haggerty,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Apr. 2026
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Ming opened up her fourth floor window and called down to the firefighters below.—
Kate Talerico,
San Francisco Chronicle,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Trippier and Burn are organisers and not afraid to bawl out their team-mates.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2026
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Women stopped to bawl out the police, who accepted this dressing-down with quiet embarrassment.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
11 Aug. 2020
Verb
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In response to industry commentators blaming aggressive patent litigation for companies disabling HEVC support, Nokia’s rep said that third-party streaming services and hardware wouldn’t work as expected without Nokia’s research and development.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
20 Apr. 2026
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Who one blames depends on their politics.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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True freshman receiver Hayden Moore from has been an early surprise challenger for first-team reps in spring ball, but the Gainesville, Fla., native, who just left high school, was chewed out and then subbed off for messing up early in Tuesday’s practice.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
15 Apr. 2026
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Instead of the standard chewing out, the senior played a clip of his freshman defensive back counterpart recognizing a screen, shedding a block and securing the first solo tackle of his career against No. 5 Georgia last week.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
10 Nov. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Rail (at or against).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rail%20%28at%20or%20against%29. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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