Dictionary

guardrail en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɡɑɹdˌɹeɪl/ (General-American)

Etymology

From guard + rail.

Meanings

1. A rail set alongside a dangerous place as a barrier, to improve safety.
2. (Canada, US) A rail set alongside a dangerous place as a barrier, to improve safety. ▸ A strengthened barrier installed on the sides of a (usually major) road to keep vehicles on the highway and reduce the risk and/or impact of crashes.
3. (broadly, figuratively) Any barrier designed to prevent accidents or mistakes.
   • Set guardrails on Visual Studio Live Share We’ve heard from Live Share users that they want to use Live Share in their organization, but without controls to prevent individuals from outside their company domain joining Live Share sessions, they’re blocked. We are excited that this and many other requested policies are now available. 2022 August 17, Carolina Uribe-Gosselin, Live Share: Enterprise Policies are here!:
   • He also acknowledged the need for guardrails. “I really think the world is going to rise to the occasion and everybody wants to do the right thing,” Altman said. 2023 November 18, Blake Montgomery, Dani Anguiano, “OpenAI fires co-founder and CEO Sam Altman for allegedly lying to company board”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • That a confrontation over a single surveillance balloon deemed harmless by the Pentagon could destabilize diplomacy between the two countries showed the difficulties of putting “guardrails on the relationship,” a goal stated in those terms by President Biden and his aides. 2023 February 5, Helene Cooper, Edward Wong, “U.S. Navy Divers Work to Recover Debris From Chinese Spy Balloon as Diplomacy Dwindles”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • CNN reported later that day that Musk had ordered staff at xAI to loosen the guardrails on Grok last year; a source told the broadcaster that he had told a meeting he was “unhappy about over-censoring” and three xAI safety team members had left the business soon after. 2026 January 11, Amelia Gentleman, Helena Horton, “‘Add blood, forced smile’: how Grok’s nudification tool went viral”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • Some worry that releasing open-source generative A.I. models without guardrails could provoke a backlash among regulators and the general public that could damage the entire industry. 2022 October 21, Kevin Roose, “A Coming-Out Party for Generative A.I., Silicon Valley’s New Craze”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
4. Synonym of check rail.

Forms

Deriveds

guardrailed

Relateds

fail-safe

Synonyms

crash barrier · side rail · traffic barrier · side rail · guide rail · guide board · guide board · guard railing · check rail · guide rail · guard railing

Translations (59)

ja ガードレール (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · is varnargrindverk (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · fr garde-corps (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · pl bariera (figurative: any barrier designed to prevent accidents or mistakes) · it sicurvia (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es arambol (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it barriera di contenimento (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · bg парапет (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · no gelender (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · pl poręcz (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es guardarraíl (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it barriera di protezione (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · de Schutzplanke (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · ca guarda-raïl (figurative: any barrier designed to prevent accidents or mistakes) · cmn 護欄 /护栏 (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es guardavía (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it guardrail (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · ca barana (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · de Leitlinie (figurative: any barrier designed to prevent accidents or mistakes) · cy canllaw (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · pl barierka (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es quitamiedos (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · pt guard-rail (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · el κιγκλίδωμα (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · fr glissière de sécurité (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · fr rail de sécurité (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · fi turvakaide (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es antepecho (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · fr barrière de sécurité (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · ca guarda-raïl (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · de Leitplanke (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es balaustrada (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · fr garde-fou (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es pretil (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it barriera protettiva (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it barriera di sicurezza (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es brocal (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it guidovia (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · hu szalagkorlát (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · cs zábradlí (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it guardavia (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · ca barrera de seguretat (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · kk қоршау (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · pl balustrada (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · cs zábradlí (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · pl bariera energochłonna (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · tr korkuluk (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · nl vangrail (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · fi suojakaide (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · de Leitplanke (figurative: any barrier designed to prevent accidents or mistakes) · no rekkverk (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it barriera stradale (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · sv räcke (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · ru огражде́ние (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · es repecho (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · it guardastrada (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · de Geländer (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · de Leitschiene (rail set alongside a dangerous place) · ko 보호 난간 (rail set alongside a dangerous place)