🚆 Train transport 🪑 A bar or barrier 😡 To protest angrily ⚡ A conducting bar 🐦 A wading bird 🚧 To fence off 🚆 To travel by train

rail

9 8.6

A metal bar that carries strong electric current to launch a metal object

noun
/reɪl/

Specialized

: riel

The guide rails are available in 16 lengths, ranging from 400 mm to 3000 mm.
rail dynamics
rail assembly
dual-rail

And it is powered with two fins sitting in electrified rails.

Examples

Once that's in the right place, then I can move the rail, drop the hardware in place, put the rail back, and then screw the rail and the hardware together.
Power was supplied from a stationary battery to the moving electric locomotive, using the rails as conductors for the electricity.

Academic text (2000)
See, it's supposed to be in the drive rail right here.
I'm not sure which controller is for which rail, but they all have the same feature set.
Many are so large that they require rail mounted structures for deployment in the field.
But I can still fit my old Bosch saw in the rail if I need to.
Thought there was a burnt out capacitor, so that rail goes all the way down to here.
So we're going to connect it with the jumper wire to the ground rail here on the breadboard.
The coarse tracking actuator is rail-mounted, and the focus actuator is a small voice coil motor.

Academic text (1996)
The shuttle shoots to the end of the rail and propels the projectile into space.

Idioms

skinny as a rail

Informal

1 7.0

Very thin person with little or no fat

to ride on a rail

Archaic

9.9

To be publicly punished or laughed at in a way that shames you

Compounds

rail line

16 2.8

Tracks and the ground they sit on that form a route for trains

third rail

Specialized

4 7.7

An extra rail beside train tracks that provides electricity to trains

rail fence

1 4.3

A fence made of long wooden rails laid in a zigzag to keep animals in

fence rail

1 2.8

A long narrow piece of wood that sits across posts to make a barrier

fife rail

Specialized

1 9.9

A low fence around a sailing ship's mast that holds ropes or supports people

rail technology

Specialized

1 4.4

The planning, building, and running of trains, tracks, and stations

rail-splitter

Archaic

1 8.8

A person who splits logs to make wooden rails for fences

safety rail

1 2.3

A strong bar along stairs or platforms that stops people from falling

split rail

1 6.1

A long wooden piece cut lengthwise from a log used in fences

split-rail fence

1 4.8

A fence made from split logs stacked horizontally in a zigzag

bilevel rail car

Specialized

5.2

A train car with two levels of seats to carry more passengers

double-deck rail car

4.2

A train car with two levels of seats to carry more passengers

land rail

9.0

A small brown bird that lives in fields and meadows, often hidden in tall grass

loot rail

Jargon

9.5

A system in a game that gives items fairly to each player

picture rail

5.0

A narrow rail fixed high on a wall for hanging paintings

plate rail

6.8

A narrow shelf fixed to a wall for showing plates and small decorations

towel rail

2.5

A bar fixed to a wall for hanging towels to dry

snake-rail fence

7.5

A low wooden fence made of rails in a zigzag that marks a border

Surface Forms

rail singular

rails plural

Etymology

Rail in engineering is simply the same word for a metal bar; here the rail is the conducting bar that carries electric current and helps push a projectile. So a rail is a metal bar used to make the magnetic forces that accelerate the object.