Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

on the rails

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.79 in modern English

Syllables: on the rails
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

1

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep_phrase

In working order, functioning properly.

prep_phrase

In a train or on trains.

prep_phrase

Racing toward the inside, near the fence that bounds the track.

prep_phrase

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see on, rail.

Example Sentences

"To The wineplace.com and Chris, Marshy and Chris for keeping me on the rails."
"Logic is nothing other than methods we have learned that keep thinking on the rails."
"Menin Road got the offensive back on the rails but conditions, which had been deplorable before, favoured the outcome."
"For several Saturdays after he'd seen a film about men who lived on the rails, he left home with a Spam sandwich in a paper bag, a compass and a ball of twine (though he wasn't sure why he included the twine)."
"And then over two months of hitch-hiking' and trekking in Banff and Jasper National Parks, and a few hundred miles on the rails."
"Nevertheless, he loved traveling on the rails and became a lifelong railroad buff."

Questions

What does on the rails mean?: In working order, functioning properly.

How to pronounce on the rails

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “on the rails”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “on the rails”.
Repeat and practice — Say “on the rails” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.