re-railv.
/ˌriːˈreɪl/, U.S. /riˈreɪl/ 1. transitive. To place (a derailed train, carriage, etc.) back upon the rails. Also figurative.
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society > travel > rail travel > [verb (transitive)] > leave the rails > replace on rails
re-rail1888
the world > action or operation > amending > restoration > restore [verb (transitive)]
recovera1382
recurea1382
reparela1382
instore1382
store1387
restorec1390
redressc1405
repeal1479
rectifya1529
restauratea1538
redeem1575
instaurate1583
upright1601
upseta1652
reficiate1657
rehabilitate1663
retrieve1665
re-establish1706
re-rail1914
rehab1961
1888 [implied in: Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 283 Rerailing..is done with screw jacks and timber blocking, or with ramps. (at re-railing n. 1)].
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II. Re-rail.., to put on the track again; to cause to take the rails again, as derailed rolling~stock.
1914 W. De Morgan When Ghost meets Ghost ii. iii. 455 ‘And where else did you go?’ said the Earl, to re-rail the conversation.
1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway ii. 6 I learned how to re-rail wagons and engines without sending for the crane.
1991 M. Kenyon Kleinberg iv. xxxv. 206 Half a mile up the tracks, at a broken-down shack, I met this boy and girl trying to rerail an old flatbed trailer.
2. transitive. To supply (a railway line or track) with new rails.
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1891 Davenport (Iowa) Morning Tribune 24 Jan. The road was in bad shape..and it soon became necessary to rerail the entire line and equip it anew throughout.
1920 13th Ann. Rep. State of N.Y. Public Service Comm., 1st District 119 The section between 161st street and 187th street is yet to be rerailed.
1940 Times 7 Mar. 14/4 The whole of the line has been re-railed, re-sleepered, and stone ballasted since 1925.
2001 Bath Chron. (Nexis) 24 May 6 The cost of re-railing large sections of track..has wrecked finances for 2000-01.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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