plate rail

American  

noun

1. a rail or narrow shelf fixed along a wall to hold plates, especially for ornament or display.

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plate rail British  

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: plate.  railways an early flat rail with an extended flange on its outer edge to retain wheels on the track

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Etymology

Origin of plate rail

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

High plate rail: A deep shelf with decorative wood brackets turns the dead zone along a soffit into an attention-grabber.

From Time • Mar. 12, 2015

Where the coved portion flowed into the perpendicular of the wall there was a broad moulding, like a plate rail, which acted as a support for the hanging pictures.

From The Blind Spot by Hall, Austin

Use cedar boughs to decorate the chandelier and plate rail.

From Dinners and Luncheons Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions by Pierce, Paul

Comparing them side by side on a plate rail, or hanging on the wall, old Delft is told by its soft, beautiful blue.

From Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings by Northend, Mary H.

The black cats, their eyes touched with phosphorus, glared down from the plate rail.

From Ethel Morton's Holidays by Smith, Mabell S. C. (Mabell Shippie Clarke)