Rail

rāl, n. a bar of timber or metal extending from one support to another, as in fences, staircases, .: one of those steel bars used on the permanent way of a railway, generally of that form known as the T-rail: a barrier: the railway as a means of travel or transport: ( arch it. ) the horizontal part of a frame and panel: ( naut. ) the forecastle-rail, poop-rail, and top-rail are bars acro the forecastle, .— v.t. to enclose with rails: to furnish with rails.— ns. Rail′-bend′er , a screw-pre for straightening rails; Rail′-bor′er , a hand-drill for rails; Rail′-chair , an iron block by which the rails are secured to the sleepers; Rail′-clamp , a wedge for clamping a rail firmly; Rail′-coup′ling , a bar by which the opposite rails of a railway are connected at curves, switches, .; Rail′-guard , a guard-rail before a front wheel; Rail′ing , a fence of posts and rails: material for rails; Rail′-punch , a machine for punching holes in the webs of rails; Rail′road , Rail′way , a road or way laid with iron rails on which carriages run.— v.t. Rail′road ( U.S. ), to push forward fast.— ns. Rail′roader , one employed about a railway; Rail′road-worm , the apple maggot; Rail′-saw , a portable machine for sawing off metal rails; Rail′-split′ter ( U.S. ), one who splits logs into rails for a fence; Rail′way-car , a vehicle for the transportation of pa engers and goods; Rail′way-carr′iage , a carriage for the conveyance of pa engers; Rail′way-cro ′ing , an intersection of railway-lines: an intersection of an ordinary road with a railroad; Rail′way-slide , a turn-table; Rail′way-stitch , a loose and rapid stitch in knitting or crochet-work; Rail′way-train (see Train ).— Railway company , a stock company formed for the construction and working of a railway, usually organised by a legislative enactment.— Elevated railway , an elevated bridge-like structure used for railway purposes, to avoid obstruction of surface roadways; Military railway , a railway equipped for military service, the locomotives being armoured, and the carriages armour-plated and provided with portholes for rifles; Portable railway , a light railway made in detachable sections, and so suited for carrying easily from place to place. [Low Ger. regel , prob. through O. Fr. reille ; cf. Ger. riegel , a bar. Some refer to L. regula through O. Fr. reille .]