You searched for: “rails
rail (s) (noun), rails (pl)
1. A barrier consisting of a horizontal wooden or metal bar and supports which people can use to hold on to in order to keep from falling: There was a rail in the department store elevator for the customers to hold on to when going from one floor to the next.
2. A bar or bars of rolled steel making a track, or tracks along which vehicles can travel: Street cars and trains, for example, use rails to proceed from one place to another.
3. The railroad as a means of transportation: The products were transported by rail to the various stores.
4. Etymology: "a bar" from early 14th century, from Old French reille, from Common Latin regla, from Latin regula, "straight stick" from a form related to regere, "to straighten, to guide".

Technically, railings are horizontal while palings are vertical.

This entry is located in the following unit: regi-, reg-, rec-, rex- (page 6)
Word Entries at Get Words: “rails
rail (s) (noun), rails (pl)
1. A bar that goes from one post or support to another one which is used to form a barrier: The tourists leaned over the rail of the ship so they could see the whales.
2. A bar that is secured in such a way that items may be hung from it: Jeremy hung the curtains from the rails in the bedroom.
3. The bars of steel that form train tracks: As a result of the extreme snow and ice, the train swerved off the rails.

Workers were putting new rails on the train track.

This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group R (page 1)
rail (verb), rails; railed; railing
1. To complain angrily about something: A patient was railing against the medical staff because she had slipped and fallen on the floor in her hospital room at night and she couldn't get up or contact anyone to help her.
2. To express objections or criticisms in bitter, harsh, or abusive language: Too many "talk-show hosts"  rant and rail to an excessive amount of time against those who have different political views than the TV moderators do.

The workers were railing about the unfair treatment they had received from their employer.

3. Normally to use metal bars to create a barrier around or at the edge of something: The city railed off the pedestrian walk on the bridge going across the river.

The workers are in the process of railing off the sides of the balconies of the high-rise apartment.

To express scornful or bitter language at someone.
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This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group R (page 1)