Definition: rail

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

rail
     n 1: a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports [syn:
          railing]
     2: short for railway; "he traveled by rail";1 "he was concerned
        with rail safety"
     3: a bar or bars of rolled steel making a track along which
        vehicles can roll [syn: track, rails]
     4: a horizontal bar (usually of wood)
     5: any of numerous widely distributed small wading birds of the
        family Rallidae having short wings and very long toes for
        running on soft mud
     v 1: complain bitterly [syn: inveigh]
     2: enclose with rails; "rail in the old graves" [syn: rail in]
     3: provide or enclose with rails; "The yard was railed"
     4: separate with a railing; "rail off the crowds from the
        Presidential palace" [syn: rail off]
     5: convey (goods etc.) by rails; "fresh fruit are railed from
        Italy to Belgium"
     6: travel by rail or train; "They railed from Rome to Venice";
        "She trained to Hamburg" [syn: train]
     7: lay with rails; "hundreds of miles were railed out here"
     8: fish with a hand-line aver the rails of a boat; "They are
        railing for fresh fish"
     9: spread negative information about; "The Nazi propaganda
        vilified the Jews" [syn: vilify, revile, vituperate]
     10: criticize severely; "He fulminated against the Republicans'
         plan to cut Medicare"; "She railed against the bad social
         policies" [syn: fulminate]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Rail \Rail\, n.
   A railroad as a means of transportation; as, to go by rail; a
   place not accesible by rail.
Rail \Rail\, n. [OE. reil, re[yogh]el, AS. hr[ae]gel, hr[ae]gl a
   garment; akin to OHG. hregil, OFries. hreil.]
   An outer cloak or covering; a neckerchief for women.
   --Fairholt.
Rail \Rail\, v. i. [Etymol. uncertain.]
   To flow forth; to roll out; to course. [Obs.]

         Streams of tears from her fair eyes forth railing.
                                                  --Spenser.
Rail \Rail\, n. [Akin to LG. & Sw. regel bar, bolt, G. riegel a
   rail, bar, or bolt, OHG, rigil, rigel, bar, bolt, and
   possibly to E. row a line.]
   1. A bar of timber or metal, usually horizontal or nearly so,
      extending from one post or support to another, as in
      fences, balustrades, staircases, etc.

   2. (Arch.) A horizontal piece in a frame or paneling. See
      Illust. of Style.

   3. (Railroad) A bar of steel or iron, forming part of the
      track on which the wheels roll. It is usually shaped with
      reference to vertical strength, and is held in place by
      chairs, splices, etc.

   4. (Naut.)
      (a) The stout, narrow plank that forms the top of the
          bulwarks.
      (b) The light, fencelike structures of wood or metal at
          the break of the deck, and elsewhere where such
          protection is needed.

   Rail fence. See under Fence.

   Rail guard.
      (a) A device attached to the front of a locomotive on each
          side for clearing the rail obstructions.
      (b) A guard rail. See under Guard.

   Rail joint (Railroad), a splice connecting the adjacent
      ends of rails, in distinction from a chair, which is
      merely a seat. The two devices are sometimes united. Among
      several hundred varieties, the fish joint is standard. See
      Fish joint, under Fish.

   Rail train (Iron & Steel Manuf.), a train of rolls in a
      rolling mill, for making rails for railroads from blooms
      or billets.
Rail \Rail\, v. i. [F. railler; cf. Sp. rallar to grate, scrape,
   molest; perhaps fr. (assumed) LL. radiculare, fr. L. radere
   to scrape, grate. Cf. Rally to banter, Rase.]
   To use insolent and reproachful language; to utter
   reproaches; to scoff; followed by at or against, formerly by
   on. --Shak.

         And rail at arts he did not understand.  --Dryden.

         Lesbia forever on me rails.              --Swift.
Rail \Rail\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Railed; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Railing.]
   1. To inclose with rails or a railing.

            It ought to be fenced in and railed.  --Ayliffe.

   2. To range in a line. [Obs.]

            They were brought to London all railed in ropes,
            like a team of horses in a cart.      --Bacon.
Rail \Rail\, v. t.
   1. To rail at. [Obs.] --Feltham.

   2. To move or influence by railing. [R.]

            Rail the seal from off my bond.       --Shak.
Rail \Rail\, n. [F. r[^a]le, fr. r[^a]ler to have a rattling in
   the throat; of German origin, and akin to E. rattle. See
   Rattle, v.] (Zo["o]l.)
   Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds of the family
   Rallid[ae], especially those of the genus Rallus, and of
   closely allied genera. They are prized as game birds.

   Note: The common European water rail (Rallus aquaticus) is
         called also bilcock, skitty coot, and brook
         runner. The best known American species are the
         clapper rail, or salt-marsh hen (Rallus lonqirostris,
         var. crepitans); the king, or red-breasted, rail (R.
         elegans) (called also fresh-water marshhen); the
         lesser clapper, or Virginia, rail (R. Virginianus);
         and the Carolina, or sora, rail (Porzana Carolina).
         See Sora.

   Land rail (Zo["o]l.), the corncrake.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10) 

RAIL

   <robotics> Automatix.  High-level language for industrial
   robots.