rail

noun

1 bar

ADJECTIVE

▪ guard, safety

▪ curtain, picture, towel (all esp. BrE)

▪

heated towel rails

▪ altar, balcony, banister, porch (esp. AmE), stair

▪ bottom, top

▪

She climbed onto the top fence rail.

▪ steel, wooden, etc.

VERB + RAIL

▪ grab, grasp, grip, hold on to, lean on

▪

She held tightly on to the rail.

▪ hang from

▪

Lace curtains hung from the brass rails over the bed.

▪ fit, fix

PREPOSITION

▪ on a/the rail

▪

She sat on the rail.

▪ over a/the rail

▪

He folded the towel over the rail.

2 (usually rails) tracks

VERB + RAIL

▪ run along rails, run on rails

▪

Trams run along rails.

PREPOSITION

▪ along (the) rails

▪

The train thundered along the rails.

▪ between the rail

▪

Weeds grew between the rails.

▪ on (the) rails

▪

The gun is mounted on rails.

PHRASES

▪ come off the rails, go off the rails

▪

The train came off the rails.

▪

She was worried her son was going to go completely off the rails. (figurative)

▪ ride the rails (= travel around by train) (AmE)

3 system of trains

ADJECTIVE

▪ high-speed, light

▪

Many business people now opt for high-speed rail rather than flying.

▪ commuter, freight, passenger (all esp. AmE)

▪

He uses a combination of commuter rail and subway to get to work.

RAIL + NOUN

▪ fare, ticket (both esp. BrE)

▪ network, system

▪

efforts to modernize the rail network

▪ route

▪ timetable (esp. BrE)

▪ service

▪ connection, link

▪

the Channel Tunnel rail link

▪ line, track

▪ journey (esp. BrE), trip

▪ station, terminal

▪ car (esp. AmE)

▪ commuter, passenger, traveller/traveler, user (all esp. BrE)

▪ transit (AmE), transport (esp. BrE), transportation (esp. AmE), travel

▪ traffic

▪ freight

▪ bridge

▪ accident, crash, disaster (all esp. BrE)

▪ staff (BrE), worker

▪ union (BrE)

▪ enthusiast (BrE)

PREPOSITION

▪ by rail

▪

We went from Paris to Budapest by rail.