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rail

Pronunciation: /ɹeɪ(ə)l/

The English word “rail” has 20 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.
  2. The metal bar forming part of the track for a railroad.
  3. A railroad; a railway, as a means of transportation.
  4. A conductor maintained at a fixed electrical potential relative to ground, to which other circuit components are connected.
  5. A horizontal piece of wood that serves to separate sections of a door or window.
  6. One of the lengthwise edges of a surfboard.
  7. A vertical section on one side of a web page.
  8. A large line (portion or serving of a powdery illegal drug).
  9. Each of two vertical side bars supporting the rungs of a ladder.
  10. The raised edge of the game board.
  11. Any of several birds in the family Rallidae.
  12. An item of clothing; a cloak or other garment; a dress.
  13. Specifically, a woman's headscarf or neckerchief.

verb

  1. To travel by railway.
  2. To place on a track.
  3. To enclose with rails or a railing.
  4. To range in a line.
  5. To sexually penetrate in a rough manner.
  6. To snort a line of powdered drugs.
  7. To complain violently (against, about).

Etymology

From Middle English rail, rayl, *reȝel, *reȝol (found in reȝolsticke (“a ruler”)), partly from Old English regol (“a ruler, straight bar”) and partly from Old French reille; both from Latin regula (“rule, bar”), from regō (“to rule, to guide, to govern”); see regular. Doublet of regal, regula, rigol, and rule.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.