railbird
Americannoun
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a horse-racing fan who watches races or workouts from the railing along the track.
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any kibitzer or self-styled critic or expert.
Etymology
Origin of railbird
1890–95, rail 1 + bird in sense “frequenter,” as in jailbird, yardbird
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.
He grew up on a local dairy farm and became a Grants Pass Downs railbird long before he and his late brother, Dane, turned a pushcart coffee stand in town into Dutch Bros.
From New York Times • Jul. 19, 2021
Davidowitz, by contrast, says the curse is just one of those windbag railbird aphorisms on the order of never betting a horse who hasn’t raced in the past 15 days.
From Slate • May 2, 2013
Except for the absence of three topflight four-year-olds originally slated to run.� the fourth running of the Santa Anita Maturity had everything the most exacting railbird could ask of a great horse race.
From Time Magazine Archive
Besides, what railbird wants to bother with a race that covers only 350 to 550 yds. and is over before he can focus his binoculars?
From Time Magazine Archive
Seabiscuit skipped back to the barn, “obviously,” said one railbird, “in a marvelous humor.”
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
