Handrails

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. These supportive installations help ensure safety on staircases and walkways by providing necessary grip and stability to users
2. Installed along stairs and ramps, these structures enhance safety by giving users a means to balance while moving up or down
3. Rails placed along stairs or sloped walkways to offer users a firm grip and prevent falls

Etymology: "Handrail" is about as transparent as English compounds get: "hand" plus "rail," with the sense of a bar you grip as you move along. "Rail" traces back to Old French "reille" (a bar or rod), and "hand" is the ordinary Germanic word for the body part, so the two halves simply describe what the object is for. "Handrails" is just the plural, giving the sense of several such bars running along a staircase or walkway.

Synonyms: banisters, railings, guardrails