rail fence

noun

1. a fence made of rails resting on crossed stakes or across one another at an angle.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rail fence¹

An Americanism dating back to 1640–50

Example Sentences

Plans for a "timber post and rail fence" have been submitted to North Yorkshire Council to consider.

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To get there, we drove past split rail fences, fields of black-eyed Susans and grassy fields alternated with acres of burned trees and black stumps.

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While William’s rail fence cipher is easy to read, transposition ciphers can get much more complex.

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Film and Video Festival in January 1981 featured a single page with a photo of a group of 20 or so people leaning against a wooden rail fence.

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Thomas Jefferson, the first president to live eight years in the building, installed a low, wooden and rail fence and later a stone wall, but the grounds were kept open to the public.

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