Meaning & use
rail fence
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Meanings
nouncountable
A fence made of wooden rails laid in a zigzag pattern without vertical posts.
Grammar: Countable: a rail fence, many rail fences.
Patterns
- a rail fence
- build a rail fence
The farmer built a rail fence along the edge of his property.
We followed the rail fence until we reached the barn.
A traditional rail fence needs no nails because the rails interlock.
nouncountabletechnical
A simple cipher that writes a message in a zigzag pattern across several lines to hide it.
Grammar: Technical term in cryptography; often used with the: the rail fence cipher.
Patterns
- the rail fence cipher
- use a rail fence
The spy used a rail fence to encode the message.
In the rail fence cipher, the letters are arranged in a zigzag over two or more rows.
Students learned how to decode a rail fence in their cryptography class.
Word forms
| plural | rail fences |
|---|
Common combinations
- a split-rail fence
- The cabin was surrounded by a split-rail fence.
- a zigzag rail fence
- They built a zigzag rail fence to keep the cattle in.
- rail fence cipher
- The rail fence cipher is easy to break with modern computers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- split-rail fence
- A type of rail fence made from logs split lengthwise; often used interchangeably.
- zigzag fence
- Describes the shape rather than the material; a rail fence is usually a zigzag fence.
Commonly confused: rail fence or railroad fence?
rail fence vs railroad fence
A fence along a railway; not the same as a rail fence, which refers to the wooden rails.
Practice
Which sentence uses rail fence correctly?
Choose one answer.
A rail fence is a wooden fence in a zigzag pattern; jumping over it is a typical use. Option B is possible but less common; sitting on a fence is usually 'fence'. Option C describes a different type of fence (wire fence). Option D is possible but painting a rail fence is less typical than jumping over it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rail fence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.