handrail

US/ˈhændˌɹeɪl/

nounB2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,691 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: handrails

A handrail is a rail to hold onto for support. Hold the handrail, a handrail on both sides, fit a handrail.

Building rules set its height and its grip, since a handrail is useless if the hand cannot close around it. On stairs it should run past the top and bottom step, which is what tells you the stairs have ended.

Definitions of handrail

1nounhandrailA rail to hold onto for support.B2
“Hold on to the handrail when you go down the stairs.”

handrail is a rail.

Where it comes from

Hand plus rail, from the plain description of what it is held by.

From hand + rail.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Disability & Access

Practise this word

handrail in the wild

For safety, they are built with stout handrail cables, supported on short piers at each end, and running parallel to the load-bearing cables.
Simple suspension bridge
A taffrail is the handrail around the open afterdeck or poop deck.
Afterdeck
A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide safety or support.
Handrail
In Britain, handrails are referred to as banisters.
Handrail
The term banister (also bannister) refers to a baluster or to the system of balusters and handrail of a stairway.
Baluster

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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