split rail

American  

noun

1. a wooden rail split lengthwise from a log and commonly used in rustic rail and post fencing.

---

Etymology

Origin of split rail

1820–30;

Example Sentences

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.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 16, 2022

A split rail caused the derailment of two locomotives and 13 loaded gondola cars transporting scrap metal.

From Washington Post • May 1, 2016

He split rail, fired rifles, tried cases and pushed for new bridges and roads and waterways.

From Time Magazine Archive

One day they detected a new sound, rushed out to the tracks, found a split rail over which the express had miraculously passed, flagged the next train, were praised for preventing a sure wreck.

From Time Magazine Archive

I scrambled over the white split rail fence and carefully picked my way past the sharpened stakes of the interior fence.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland