railing
/ˈɹeɪlɪŋ/
noun
Familiar
1.n.a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
2.n.material for making rails or rails collectively
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railing and raining differ by a single letter, buried far enough into the word to be easy to miss. railing means “a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports”. raining means “falling in drops or as if falling like rain”. raining is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈɹeɪlɪŋ/
1.n.a barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports
2.n.material for making rails or rails collectively
/ˈɹeɪnɪŋ/
1.adj.falling in drops or as if falling like rain
“watched the raining apple blossoms”
| railing | raining | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹeɪlɪŋ/ | /ˈɹeɪnɪŋ/ |
| Said | RAY-ling | RAY-ning |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| Letters | 7 | 7 |
| Parts of speech | noun | adjective |
| Senses | 2 | 1 |
| How common | Familiar | Common |
| Synonyms | rail | none recorded |
Full entry for railing · Full entry for raining · More comparisons