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Glite Dictionary
🛗 A safety rail 🛠️ Installing rails 🤲 To hold a rail 🔧 To add a rail
to handrailing

to handrailing

6.7
To move while holding a rail for support on stairs
  • verb
translation icon : agarrarse al pasamanos
  • She is handrailing down the stairs carefully.

Examples

  • I always handrail when going down steep steps.

  • Children are often taught to handrail when using the stairs at school.

  • After her injury, she carefully handrailed down the steps to avoid slipping.

  • The elderly man handrailed along the corridor for extra stability.

  • After her injury, she carefully handrailed down the steps to avoid slipping.

  • The elderly man handrailed along the corridor for extra stability.

  • Children are often taught to handrail when using the stairs at school.

Surface Forms

handrail infinitive
handrailed past
handrailed past participle
handrailing present participle
handrails third person singular

Morphology

handrailing = handrail (transparent) = hand + rail + ing

The form is transparently the progressive/gerund of 'handrail', and the activity meaning follows directly.

Etymology

Handrailing as a verb comes from using your hand on a rail, so to handrail means to move while holding the rail for support and balance. That is why people handrail when stairs are steep or they need extra safety.