rail

/ɹeɪ(ə)l/noun, verb

rail is spelled R-A-I-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,558th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rail means “A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rail is rails.

How many letters and syllables are in rail?

Letters	4: R-A-I-L
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	26 times per million words; the 3,558th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Same letters	liar lair lira rial

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is rail?

Rail appears 26 times per million words in written English, the 3,558th most frequent word form in the list.

rail0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce rail?

/ɹeɪ(ə)l/
[ɹeɪ(ə)ɫ]
/reɪl/

Rail has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-rail.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with rail?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as rail.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: liar, lair, lira, rial, lari, aril.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of rail

rails plural, present, singular, he/she/it
railing participle, present
railed participle, past
rayle

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does rail mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

1
A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.
2
The metal bar forming part of the track for a railroad.
3
A railroad; a railway, as a means of transportation.
We travelled to the seaside by rail.
4
A conductor maintained at a fixed electrical potential relative to ground, to which other circuit components are connected.
ISA devices draw power from the +5 V, −5 V, +12 V, and −12 V rails of the power supply unit.
5
A horizontal piece of wood that serves to separate sections of a door or window.
6
One of the lengthwise edges of a surfboard.
Rails alone can only ever have a marginal effect on a board's general turning ability.
7
A vertical section on one side of a web page.
We're experimenting with ads in the right-hand rail.
8
A large line (portion or serving of a powdery illegal drug).
9
Any of several birds in the family Rallidae.
10
obsoleteAn item of clothing; a cloak or other garment; a dress.
11
obsoleteSpecifically, a woman's headscarf or neckerchief.

verb

1
To travel by railway.
2
To place on a track.
3
To enclose with rails or a railing.
They ought to rail off the playground.
4
To range in a line.
5
slangvulgarTo sexually penetrate in a rough manner.
6
slangTo snort a line of powdered drugs.
7
To complain violently (against, about).
The Major’s fury clothed and reclothed itself in words as frantically as a woman up in town for one day’s shopping tries on a succession of garments. He reviled and railed at fate and the general scheme of things, he pitied himself with a s
8
obsoleteTo gush; to flow.
9
obsoleteTo blow.