unrail

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ rail.

Verb

unrail (third-person singular simple present unrails, present participle unrailing, simple past and past participle unrailed)

1. (transitive) To remove the rail or railings from.
   • 1907, Hamilton Literary Magazine - Volume 42, page 199:

     “You are tearing pickets from innocent fences,” said Town, and proceeded to unrail a respectable fence to procure weapons wherewith to “smash the'students' heads.”

2. (transitive, intransitive, literally and figuratively) To derail.
   • 1842, Bradshaw's Railway Gazette - Volume 2, page 152:

     If this wanton attempt to unrail or overturn the engine had succeeded, eight lives would have been sacrificed.

   • 1884, Railway Record - Volume 42, Issues 1-39, page 378:

     The high flange of the former serves to keep the wagon, ever inclined to unrail in the curve, in the rail, while the flat rail gives the required gauge.

   • 1986, Authorizing Appropriations for Fiscal Years 1986-1987 for the Department of State, the U.S. Information Agency, the Board of International Broadcasting, and for Other Purposes:

     Are you trying to unrail a Reagan appointee?

   • 1995, The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1995:

     Notwithstanding evidence like that and so much others that we have raised, the fact of the matter is we still have people, it seems, within certain sectors of the administration who want to unrail the President's stated policy, a policy that he has stated both publicly and in private.

Anagrams

• Lurian, laurin, urinal