fife rail

American

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.

fife rail British

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of fife rail

First recorded in 1715–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Robertson laughed in response, and then picking up a wooden bucket from under the fife rail, clattered down the companion way.

From By Rock and Pool on an Austral Shore, and Other Stories by Becke, Louis

Harper standing on the fife rail at the crojack braces could have told them a different story.

From The Moving Finger A Trotting Christmas Eve at Warwingie Lost! The Loss of the "Vanity" Dick Stanesby's Hutkeeper The Yanyilla Steeplechase A Digger's Christmas by Gaunt, Mary

He suddenly cut short his cursing, and turning, caught sight of us, men and mates, standing idle by the main fife rail.

From The Blood Ship by Springer, Norman

The line bowed out with the wind, but led toward the deck near the mast, and in a moment my feet struck the fife rail.

From Mr. Trunnell, Mate of the Ship "Pirate" by Hains, T. Jenkins (Thornton Jenkins)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023