Standard Lemma guide

handrail

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈhændˌɹeɪl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AE1 N D R EY2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A rail which can be held, such as on the side of a staircase, ramp, or other walkway, and serving as a support or guard.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: handhold, rail, railing

2

noun

Meaning 2

A moving continuous belt-like rail on either side of an escalator which users can hold on to for support.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bannister, banister, balustrade, balusters

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: barrier

History

Etymology

From hand + rail.

Across languages

Translations

92 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: دَرَابْزُون (darābzūn) — rail which can be held
  • Armenian: բազրիք (bazrikʻ) — rail which can be held
  • Armenian: ճաղաշար (čaġašar) — rail which can be held
  • Azerbaijani: məhəccər — rail which can be held
  • Azerbaijani: sürahi — rail which can be held
  • Belarusian: парэ́нча (parénča) — rail which can be held
  • Belarusian: по́ручань (póručanʹ) — rail which can be held
  • Belarusian: бі́льцы (bílʹcy) — rail which can be held
  • Bulgarian: пери́ло (perílo) — rail which can be held
  • Burmese: နရန်း (na.ran:) — rail which can be held
  • Burmese: လက်တန်း (laktan:) — rail which can be held
  • Burmese: လက်ရန်း (lak-ran:) — rail which can be held
  • Catalan: arrambador — rail which can be held
  • Catalan: barana — rail which can be held
  • Catalan: passamà — rail which can be held
  • Chinese Mandarin: 扶手 (fúshǒu) — rail which can be held
  • Czech: zábradlí — rail which can be held
  • Danish: gelænder — rail which can be held
  • Esperanto: manrelo — rail which can be held
  • Estonian: käsipuu — rail which can be held
  • Faroese: rimaverk — rail which can be held
  • Faroese: rimagirðing — rail which can be held
  • Finnish: kaide — rail which can be held
  • Finnish: käsijohde — rail which can be held
  • French: rambarde — rail which can be held
  • French: main courante — rail which can be held
  • Georgian: მოაჯირი (moaǯiri) — rail which can be held
  • German: Geländer — rail which can be held
  • German: Handlauf — rail which can be held
  • Greek: κάγκελο (kágkelo) — rail which can be held
  • Greek: κουπαστή (koupastí) — rail which can be held
  • Hindi: डंडा (ḍaṇḍā) — rail which can be held
  • Hindi: रेलिंग (reliṅg) — rail which can be held
  • Hungarian: korlát — rail which can be held
  • Hungarian: kapaszkodó — rail which can be held
  • Icelandic: handrið — rail which can be held
  • Ingrian: käsipuu — rail which can be held
  • Italian: corrimano — rail which can be held
  • Italian: ringhiera — rail which can be held
  • Italian: balaustra — rail which can be held
  • Italian: parapetto — rail which can be held
  • Japanese: 手摺 (tesuri) — rail which can be held
  • Japanese: 手すり (tesuri) — rail which can be held
  • Japanese: 欄干 (rankan) — rail which can be held
  • Kapampangan: guyabnan — rail which can be held
  • Khmer: បង្កាន់ (bɑɑbɑngkan) — rail which can be held
  • Khmer: បង្កាន់ដៃ (bɑɑbɑngkan day) — rail which can be held
  • Khmer: ភ្នាក់ដៃ (phnĕək day) — rail which can be held
  • Khmer: ដៃជណ្ដើរ (day cɔɔcŭəndaə) — rail which can be held
  • Korean: 난간 (nan'gan) — rail which can be held
  • Korean: 란간 (ran'gan) — rail which can be held
  • Lithuanian: turėklas — rail which can be held
  • Macedonian: геле́ндер (gelénder) — rail which can be held
  • Macedonian: парапе́т (parapét) — rail which can be held
  • Maltese: poġġaman — rail which can be held
  • Māori: puringa — rail which can be held
  • Norwegian Bokmål: rekkverk — rail which can be held
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gelender — rail which can be held
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: rekkverk — rail which can be held
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gelender — rail which can be held
  • Plautdietsch: Wolm — rail which can be held
  • Polish: poręcz — rail which can be held
  • Portuguese: corrimão — rail which can be held
  • Romanian: mână curentă — rail which can be held
  • Russian: пери́ла (períla) — rail which can be held
  • Russian: по́ручень (póručenʹ) — rail which can be held
  • Serbo-Croatian: ру̏кохва̄т — rail which can be held
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȕkohvāt — rail which can be held
  • Slovak: zábradlie — rail which can be held
  • Slovene: ograja — rail which can be held
  • Spanish: pasamano — rail which can be held
  • Spanish: barandilla — rail which can be held
  • Spanish: baranda — rail which can be held
  • Spanish: rastel — rail which can be held
  • Spanish: barandado — rail which can be held
  • Spanish: barandal — rail which can be held
  • Spanish: barandaje — rail which can be held
  • Swedish: ledstång — rail which can be held
  • Swedish: räcke — rail which can be held
  • Tagalog: gabay — rail which can be held
  • Thai: ราว (raao) — rail which can be held
  • Turkish: tırabzan — rail which can be held
  • Ottoman Turkish: طرابزان (tarabizan) — rail which can be held
  • Ukrainian: пери́ла (perýla) — rail which can be held
  • Ukrainian: пору́ччя (porúččja) — rail which can be held
  • Ukrainian: по́ручень (póručenʹ) — rail which can be held
  • Ukrainian: би́льце (býlʹce) — rail which can be held
  • Vietnamese: tay vịn — rail which can be held
  • Vietnamese: thanh vịn — rail which can be held
  • Welsh: canllaw — rail which can be held
  • Hungarian: kapaszkodószalag — moving continuous belt-like rail on either side of an escalator which users can hold on to for support
  • Hungarian: gumikorlát — moving continuous belt-like rail on either side of an escalator which users can hold on to for support