road railn.
/ˈrəʊd ˌreɪl/, U.S. /ˈroʊd ˌreɪl/ Usually in plural. One of the bars or rails which form a railway or tramway. Now rare.
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1831 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Oct. 219 What I claim as my invention, or improvement, in the construction of timber rail-roads, is the elevation above the ground of the road-rails.
1869 Architect & Contract Reporter 18 Sept. 144 The laying of road-rails at various parts of the suburbs,..so to bring outlying districts into direct communication with existing railway systems.
1903 J. Masefield Cargoes in Broad Sheet No. 17 With a cargo of Tyne coal, Road-rails, pig-lead.
1985 M. Booth Hiroshima Joe i. 36 The tram, with much grinding and howling of metal.., surged off along the sunken road rails towards Causeway Bay.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1831