ride on a rail English

Meaning ride on a rail meaning

What does ride on a rail mean?

ride on a rail verb

— (idiomatic, historical) To be subjected to a punishment most prevalent in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries in which an offender was made to straddle a fence rail held on the shoulders of two or more bearers. The victim was then paraded around town or taken to the city limits and dumped by the roadside.