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

Without guardrails, these systems scrape, remix, and reproduce sacred imagery, ceremonial language, and ancestral designs — usually without consent or context. —Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025

However, the decision came during a trend toward deregulation of online platforms as Elon Musk removed guardrails after acquiring X, and Meta and YouTube removed policies meant to combat hate and misinformation. —Michael Gregory, The Conversation, 17 Apr. 2025

But there aren’t many guardrails to prevent US residents from using VPNs. —Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 16 Apr. 2025

Preventing risks like that, Hassabis believes, means carefully testing AI models for dangerous capabilities, and only gradually releasing them to more users with effective guardrails. —Billy Perrigo, Time, 15 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for guardrail

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• email

Kids Definition

guardrail

noun

guard·​rail ˈgär-ˌdrāl 

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