guardrail

noun

guard·​rail ˈgärd-ˌrāl 

: a railing guarding usually against danger

especially : a barrier placed along the edge of a highway at dangerous points

Synonyms

• balustrade
• banister
• bannister
• rail
• railing

Examples of guardrail in a Sentence

the car ran off the road, but fortunately only hit the guardrail

Recent Examples on the Web

And while these models have stronger guardrails built in to prevent misuse, many people have found ways to ‘jailbreak’ them, effectively circumventing these guardrails. —Tharin Pillay, TIME, 5 Nov. 2024

Without guardrails, that type of reclassification could be difficult for the IRS to enforce, Muresianu said. —Bob Woods, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2024

But, rather than putting the election on a new track, these events merely detonated its guardrails. —The New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2024

Addressing these three pillars provides necessary consumer safety guardrails, while liberating the entire industry from overburdensome, outdated, expensive, and unnecessary regulations that have dogged the marijuana sector. —Robert Hoban, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

guardrail

noun

guard·​rail ˈgär-ˌdrāl 

: a protective railing placed along dangerous areas (as of a road)