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guardrail

American  
[gahrd-reyl] / ˈgɑrdˌreɪl /

noun

  1. Also guardrailing. a protective railing, rail, railing, as along a road or stairway.

  2. Railroads. a rail laid parallel to a track to prevent derailment or to keep derailed rolling stock from leaving the roadbed.


guardrail British  
/ ˈɡɑːdˌreɪl /

noun

  1. a railing at the side of a staircase, road, etc, as a safety barrier

  2. Also called (Brit): checkrailrailways a short metal rail fitted to the inside of the main rail to provide additional support in keeping a train's wheels on the track

"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 guardrail

First recorded in 1825–35; guard + rail 1

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.

Hunter said she supported government intervention, which she said was a "good idea, given the lack of guardrails and safeguarding for women and children specifically".

From BBC

And it said the bank had more broadly failed to build appropriate guardrails to protect confidential information about capital-markets transactions from leaking.

From The Wall Street Journal

“We need guardrails around LLMs to make them useful, and that is where there will be lot of action over the next 10 years,” he writes.

From Los Angeles Times

However, interest in stablecoins is expected to climb once the Genius Act takes effect in 2027, as the new guardrails lessen their volatility.

From The Wall Street Journal

We opted for a role-playing framework instead of a direct question to navigate around LLM guardrails.

From MarketWatch