rail1
• noun 1 a bar or series of bars fixed on upright supports or attached to a wall or ceiling, serving as part of a fence or barrier or used to hang things on. 2 a steel bar or continuous line of bars laid on the ground as one of a pair forming a railway track. 3 railways as a means of transport. • verb 1 provide or enclose with a rail or rails. 2 convey (goods) by rail. — PHRASES go off the rails informal begin behaving in an uncontrolled way. on the rails 1 informal functioning normally. 2 (of a racehorse or jockey) in a position on the racetrack nearest the inside fence. — ORIGIN Old French reille ‘iron rod’, from Latin regula ‘straight stick, rule’.
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