railfuln.
/ˈreɪlfʊl/, U.S. /ˈreɪlˌfʊl/ 1. Christian Church. The number of congregants that can be accommodated at a communion rail in a church or chapel; the congregants comprising this. Cf. rail n.2 1c. Now rare.
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1863 H. Alford Let. 26 Dec. in Life, Jrnls. & Lett. (1873) x. 369 The idol was carried round to railfull after railfull, who kissed its toes and pressed their foreheads against it.
1889 H. M. Luckock Dict. Liturgy xlii. 337 The practice..had been largely adopted from the school of Calvin, of repeating the formula once only for a railful of communicants.
1933 S. C. Carptenter Church & People, 1789–1889 x. 253 Even so, a common custom in his day was for the Bishop to confirm a ‘railful’ at a time, not ‘laying his hand’, as directed, ‘on the head of every one severally’.
2. The amount (esp. of clothing) that can be held on a rail.
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1873 C. W. Stoddard South-Sea Idyls 353 To watch a canoe-load of children drifting out upon the bay, singing like a railful of larks.
1959 Times 18 Dec. 12/6 Suspended on the ceiling from the drapery side was a crowded railful of..matinée coats and tiny dresses.
2006 Evening Standard (Nexis) 9 May 34 She picks a fantastic railful of stuff including a green print dress with puff sleeves.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1863