fife rail

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noun Nautical.

a rail surrounding or next to the mast of a sailing vessel for use in holding the pins to which some of the running rigging is belayed.

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Compare pin rail.

Origin of fife rail

First recorded in 1715–25

Words nearby fife rail

fiesta de toros, fiesta taurina, Fiesta ware, FIFA, fife, fife rail, fifi hook, FIFO, fifteen, Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest — / Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!, fifteenth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fife rail in a sentence

Our strange mate stood against the fife-rail of the mainmast, apparently too intent on the sky and sea for speaking.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 68, No. 417, July, 1850|Various
Harper standing on the fife rail at the crojack braces could have told them a different story.
The Moving Finger|Mary Gaunt
"Clap on to that gant-line at the main fife-rail, and lift this bag of coffee out o' the lazarette," sang out the captain.
"Where Angels Fear to Tread" and Other Stories of the Sea|Morgan Robertson
Had I remained by the fife-rail three seconds longer than I did, my brains would have been dashed out.
Studies in the Out-Lying Fields of Psychic Science|Hudson Tuttle

A box was placed on the fife-rail, at the mainmast, in which the ballots were deposited, under the inspection of Professor Mapps.
Outward Bound|Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for fife rail

fife rail

noun

nautical a rail at the base of a mast of a sailing vessel, fitted with pins for belaying running riggingCompare pin rail

Word Origin for fife rail

C18: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012