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is tightened, and held tight by the use of a small stick of wood twisted around. -- Rack rail (Railroads), a toothed rack, laid as a rail, to afford a hold for teeth on the driving wheel of locomotive for climbing steep gradients, as in ascending a mountain. -- Rack saw, a saw having wide teeth. -- Rack stick, the s…

To scold or rail at; to rate; to tease; to torment; to banter. [Prov. Eng.] Pegge.

Pertaining to the rails.

To attack with raillery, either in good humor and pleasantry, or with slight contempt or satire. Honeycomb . . . raillies me upon a country life. Addison. Strephon had long confessed his amorous pain. Which gay Corinna rallied with disdain. Gay.

A short bend, slope, or curve, where a hand rail or cap changes its direction.

To rant; to storm. [Obs.] I wept, . . . and raved, randed, and railed. J. Webster.

To scold; to rail at. L'Estrange. To rattle off. (a) To tell glibly or noisily; as, to rattle off a story. (b) To rail at; to scold. "She would sometimes rattle off her servants sharply." Arbuthnot.

court to obtain funds for the preservation of the assets held by him, as for operating a railroad. Receivers' certificates are ordinarily a first lien on the assets, prior to that of bonds or other securities.

rapidly cooling heated liquids or vapors, connected with a still, etc. Refrigerator car (Railroad), a freight car constructed as a refrigerator, for the transportation of fresh meats, fish, etc., in a temperature kept cool by ice.

To fund again or anew; to replace (a fund or loan) by a new fund; as, to refund a railroad loan.

earing of a back station as observed from the station next in advance. -- Reverse curve (Railways), a curve like the letter S, formed of two curves bending in opposite directions. -- Reverse fire (Mil.), a fire in the rear. -- Reverse operation (Math.), an operation the steps of which are taken in a contrary order t…

To call or bring back; to recall. [Obs.] The faint sprite he did revoke again, To her frail mansion of morality. Spenser.

, measure, or verse; a composition in verse; a rhymed tale; poetry; harmony of language. "Railing rhymes." Daniel. A ryme I learned long ago. Chaucer. He knew Himself to sing, and build the lofty rime. Milton.

To rend asunder by force; to split; to cleave; as, to rive timber for rails or shingles. I shall ryve him through the sides twain. Chaucer. The scolding winds have rived the knotty oaks. Shak. Brutus hath rived my heart. Shak.

In railroads, the bed or foundation on which the superstructure (ties, rails, etc.) rests; in common roads, the whole material laid in place and ready for travel.

r form with a roll, roller, or rollers; as, to roll a field; to roll paste; to roll steel rails, etc.

An amusement railroad in which cars coast by gravity over a long winding track, with steep pitches and ascents.

furnished with heavy rolls, between which heated metal is passed, to form it into sheets, rails, etc. -- Rolling press. (a) A machine for calendering cloth by pressure between revolving rollers. (b) A printing press with a roller, used in copperplate printing. -- Rolling stock, or Rolling plant, the locomotives and v…

sh. [R.] Though he his house of polished marble build, Yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell. Sandys. If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster. Locke.

de by heavy wagons or the reverberation of thunder; a confused noise; as, the rumble of a railboard train. Clamor and rumble, and ringing and clatter. tennyson. Merged in the rumble of awakening day. H. James.