Rail

10 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rail \Rail\ (r[=a]l), n. [OE. reil, re[yogh]el, AS. hr[ae]gel,
     hr[ae]gl, a garment; akin to OHG. hregil, OFries. hreil.]
     An outer cloak or covering; a neckerchief for women.
     --Fairholt.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rail \Rail\, v. i. [Etymol. uncertain.]
     To flow forth; to roll out; to course. [Obs.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Streams of tears from her fair eyes forth railing.
                                                    --Spenser.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rail \Rail\, n. [Akin to LG. & Sw. regel bar, bolt, G. riegel a
     rail, bar, or bolt, OHG. rigil, rigel, bar, bolt, and
     possibly to E. row a line.]
     1. A bar of timber or metal, usually horizontal or nearly so,
        extending from one post or support to another, as in
        fences, balustrades, staircases, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Arch.) A horizontal piece in a frame or paneling. See
        Illust. of {Style}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Railroad) A bar of steel or iron, forming part of the
        track on which the wheels roll. It is usually shaped with
        reference to vertical strength, and is held in place by
        chairs, splices, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Naut.)
        (a) The stout, narrow plank that forms the top of the
            bulwarks.
        (b) The light, fencelike structures of wood or metal at
            the break of the deck, and elsewhere where such
            protection is needed.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     5. A railroad as a means of transportation; as, to go by
        rail; a place not accesible by rail.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     6. a railing.
        [PJC]
  
     {Rail fence}. See under {Fence}.
  
     {Rail guard}.
        (a) A device attached to the front of a locomotive on each
            side for clearing the rail of obstructions.
        (b) A guard rail. See under {Guard}.
  
     {Rail joint} (Railroad), a splice connecting the adjacent
        ends of rails, in distinction from a chair, which is
        merely a seat. The two devices are sometimes united. Among
        several hundred varieties, the fish joint is standard. See
        {Fish joint}, under {Fish}.
  
     {Rail train} (Iron & Steel Manuf.), a train of rolls in a
        rolling mill, for making rails for railroads from blooms
        or billets.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rail \Rail\, v. i. [F. railler; cf. Sp. rallar to grate, scrape,
     molest; perhaps fr. (assumed) LL. radiculare, fr. L. radere
     to scrape, grate. Cf. {Rally} to banter, {Rase}.]
     To use insolent and reproachful language; to utter
     reproaches; to scoff; -- followed by at or against, formerly
     by on. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           And rail at arts he did not understand.  --Dryden.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Lesbia forever on me rails.              --Swift.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rail \Rail\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Railed} (r[=a]ld); p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Railing}.]
     1. To inclose with rails or a railing.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It ought to be fenced in and railed.  --Ayliffe.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To range in a line. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They were brought to London all railed in ropes,
              like a team of horses in a cart.      --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rail \Rail\ (r[=a]l), v. t.
     1. To rail at. [Obs.] --Feltham.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To move or influence by railing. [R.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Rail the seal from off my bond.       --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Rail \Rail\, n. [F. r[^a]le, fr. r[^a]ler to have a rattling in
     the throat; of German origin, and akin to E. rattle. See
     {Rattle}, v.] (Zool.)
     Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds of the family
     {Rallidae}, especially those of the genus {Rallus}, and of
     closely allied genera. They are prized as game birds.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The common European water rail ({Rallus aquaticus}) is
           called also {bilcock}, {skitty coot}, and {brook
           runner}. The best known American species are the
           clapper rail, or salt-marsh hen ({Rallus longirostris},
           var. crepitans); the king, or red-breasted, rail
           ({Rallus elegans}) (called also {fresh-water
           marshhen}); the lesser clapper, or Virginia, rail
           ({Rallus Virginianus}); and the Carolina, or sora, rail
           ({Porzana Carolina}). See {Sora}.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Land rail} (Zool.), the corncrake.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  rail
       n 1: a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports [syn:
            {railing}]
       2: short for railway; "he traveled by rail"; "he was concerned
          with rail safety"
       3: a bar or bars of rolled steel making a track along which
          vehicles can roll [syn: {track}, {rails}]
       4: a horizontal bar (usually of wood)
       5: any of numerous widely distributed small wading birds of the
          family Rallidae having short wings and very long toes for
          running on soft mud
       v 1: complain bitterly [syn: {inveigh}]
       2: enclose with rails; "rail in the old graves" [syn: {rail in}]
       3: provide with rails; "The yard was railed"
       4: separate with a railing; "rail off the crowds from the
          Presidential palace" [syn: {rail off}]
       5: convey (goods etc.) by rails; "fresh fruit are railed from
          Italy to Belgium"
       6: travel by rail or train; "They railed from Rome to Venice";
          "She trained to Hamburg" [syn: {train}]
       7: lay with rails; "hundreds of miles were railed out here"
       8: fish with a hand-line over the rails of a boat; "They are
          railing for fresh fish"
       9: spread negative information about; "The Nazi propaganda
          vilified the Jews" [syn: {vilify}, {revile}, {vituperate}]
       10: criticize severely; "He fulminated against the Republicans'
           plan to cut Medicare"; "She railed against the bad social
           policies" [syn: {fulminate}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  134 Moby Thesaurus words for "rail":
     L, attack, baluster, balustrade, banister, bar, barrier, bawl out,
     berate, bottle up, boundary, box up, branch, bulkhead in,
     cable railway, cage, censure, check, chew out, cloister,
     cog railway, condemn, confine, constrain, coop, coop in, coop up,
     cork up, crib, criticize, decry, denounce, detain, el,
     electric railway, elevated, elevated railway, embankment, encage,
     enclose, feeder, feeder line, fence, fence in, fulminate,
     gravity-operated railway, gruel, handrail, hedge, hem, hem in,
     hold, hold in custody, hold in restraint, horse railway, immure,
     impound, inhibit, jaw, junction, keep in, keep in custody,
     keep in detention, lath, light railroad, line, main line,
     mere shadow, metro, mew, mew up, monorail, pale, palisade, paper,
     pen, pen up, picket, pound, rack railway, rack-and-pinion railway,
     rail in, rail line, railing, railroad, railway, rake, rate,
     restrain, restrict, revile, roadbed, roadway, rod, scold, seal up,
     shackle, shadow, shaving, shut in, shut up, sidetrack, siding,
     skeleton, slat, slip, soup, splinter, stone wall, streak,
     street railway, streetcar line, subway, switchback, terminal,
     terminus, tongue-lash, track, tram, tramline, trestle,
     trolley line, trunk, trunk line, tube, turnout, underground,
     upbraid, vein, vituperate, vociferate, wafer, wall, wall in
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  RAIL
       
           Automatix.  High-level language for industrial
          robots.