fife rail

a rail surrounding or next to the mast of a sailing vessel for use in holding the pins to which some of the running rigging is belayed.

Compare pin rail.

Origin of fife rail

First recorded in 1715–25

In line-of-battle ships it is generally placed on the fife-rail in the centre and foremost part of the poop.

The Sailor's Word-Book |William Henry Smyth
Half of a fife-rail had been shot through the foresail, and the sky made a patch of glorious blue in the ignobly soiled canvas.

Youth |Joseph Conrad
Above this flood, or knee-deep in it, Mr. Pike and half-a-dozen sailors were bunched on the fife-rail of the mizzen-mast.

The Mutiny of the Elsinore |Jack London
At the foot of each mast there is a contrivance for securing ropes, called the fife-rail.

Outward Bound |Oliver Optic

Mark made his gate out of the fife-rail, at the foot of the mainmast, sawing off the stanchions for that purpose.

The Crater |James Fenimore Cooper

fife rail

nautical a rail at the base of a mast of a sailing vessel, fitted with pins for belaying running rigging Compare pin rail

C18: of unknown origin