rail

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈrāl

Synonyms of rail next

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

: a structural member or support

: railing sense 1

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

: a fence bounding a racetrack

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

: track

: railroad

rail

2 of 4

verb (1)

railed; railing; rails

transitive verb

: to provide with a railing : fence

rail

3 of 4

: 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

rail

4 of 4

verb (2)

railed; railing; rails

intransitive verb

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

railer noun

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Two immigrants were found dead and 10 others were fighting for their lives after being discovered in a rail car east of Uvalde on Friday afternoon, police said. —

Guillermo Contreras, San Antonio Express-News, 24 Mar. 2023 Union Pacific said it was alerted by Border Patrol at about 4 p.m. local time that 15 people had been found in two different rail cars. —

Camilo Montoya-galvez, CBS News, 24 Mar. 2023 Take the Holland America Alaskan cruise to see the Inside Passage, then take the domed rail cars of the McKinley Explorer on a 10-hour scenic route to Denali. —

James Barrett, Popular Mechanics, 23 Mar. 2023 The safety board announced in their preliminary report on Feb. 23 that a mechanical issue with a rail car axle was the reason for the derailment. —

Isabella Fertel, USA TODAY, 21 Mar. 2023 The Environmental Protection Agency said that about 20 rail cars carried hazardous materials when the train came off its tracks. —

Mac Stone, Discover Magazine, 21 Mar. 2023 Crews installed a boom on the shoreline to contain potential pollution and were emptying and removing rail cars. —

Justine Mcdaniel, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2023 The attorney general’s suit says substances released from rail cars have gone into multiple creeks, as well as the Ohio River. —

Kelly Yamanouchi, ajc, 14 Mar. 2023 Amid concerns an explosion could take place, officials intentionally released and burned toxic vinyl chloride from five rail cars, sending a large ball of fire and a plume of black smoke filled with contaminants high into the sky. —

Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 14 Mar. 2023

Verb

Unrealistic projections, spending, and hiring might not have been the result of incompetency but of short-termism and pandering to the gods of Wall Street (i.e., the capitalistic machine the executives rail against in their stakeholder comments). —

Ron Shevlin, Forbes, 6 Feb. 2023 Perhaps Serious Son’s move overseas, then, hints at the inevitability of globalization, diaspora and code-switching — even among those who rail against it. —

Meena Venkataramanan, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2023 In the end, Tyler Brown said, people who rail against the movement as an existential threat to democracy should put up or shut up. —

Brian Macquarrie, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2022 There are a lot of politicians in America who rail against immigration in racist ways. —

Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 15 May 2022 And there will always be segments of society who rail against government mandates (see: wedding-cake lawsuits, anti-vaccine rallies). —

Kelsey Miller, SELF, 11 Jan. 2022 Such things are important, because school boards have been besieged by parents -- sometimes even doctors -- who rail against masks and measures that can keep schools open and children safe. —

John Archibald | Jarchibald@al.com, al, 7 Sep. 2021 Those who rail against cancel culture don’t care about free speech or censorship or any other neutral principle. —

David S. Cohen, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2021 Trump himself continues to rail against the election in tweets and in interviews though his own administration has said the 2020 election was the most secure ever. —

Bloomberg.com, 1 Dec. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler

The first known use of rail was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Rail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rail. Accessed 30 Mar. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

rail

1 of 4 noun

ˈrā(ə)l

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

: railing sense 1

: a bar of steel forming a track for wheeled vehicles

: 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"