Skip to main content

raila metal bar that forms part of a railway track

Part of speech: NOUN

Definition: a metal bar that forms part of a railway track

Pronunciation (IPA): /reɪl/

Example Sentences

  • My grandmother always rails about how expensive everything is these days while riding the rail to the market.
  • The drunk man went completely off the rails and started dancing on the rail tracks.
  • She painted the wooden rail around her balcony bright pink.

rail

NOUN

[/reɪl/]

a metal bar that forms part of a railway track

Workers inspecting steel railway rails
💡 Concept

Workers inspecting steel railway rails

The train's tail caught on the broken rail, destined to fail!
🎵 Rhyme

The train's tail caught on the broken rail, destined to fail!

Got the picture? Now let's practice.

🎤Pronunciation

🇺🇸 US/reɪl/
🇬🇧 UK/reɪl/

🌳Etymology

Rootrail

Origin

From Old French 'reille' meaning a rod or bar, ultimately derived from Latin 'regula' meaning rule or straight bar. The word entered English in the 15th century and came to specifically denote the metal bars used in railway tracks.

Breakdown

rail (singular noun) - from Old French 'reille' (rod/bar) from Latin 'regula' (straight bar/rule). No productive morphemes in modern English; it functions as a simple root word.

🎵Rhyme

tailmailsailfailpale
tail
mail
sail
fail
pale

🔗Collocations

railway rail
hold the rail
rail transport
guard rail
rail against
off the rails
handrail

📝Examples

😄 Fun example

My grandmother always rails about how expensive everything is these days while riding the rail to the market.

😄 Fun example

The drunk man went completely off the rails and started dancing on the rail tracks.

She painted the wooden rail around her balcony bright pink.

The politician continued to rail against his opponents during the entire debate.

📚Related Words

Synonyms

trackbarbarriercomplaincriticize

Antonyms

praisesupportapprove

Related

trainrailwayhandrailguardrailderail

Want to master 19,000+ words?

Sign up free for flashcards & quizzes.