Meanings
plural derailers
- One who, or that which, derails.
- alternativeuncommoncyclingAlternative spelling of derailleur.
Inside, two bearded men are working on a busted fuel pump, and another is repairing a bicycle derailer.
2016, Erik Reece, Utopia Drive: A Road Trip Through America’s Most Radical Idea, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 1703 more examples
Through sheer ingenuity and resourcefulness, these men handproduced parts such as derailers, stands, seat posts, cranks, fenders, and all manner of elements used in the production of a functional bicycle.
2009, Christine Elliott, David Jablonka, “Cycles Alex Singer”, in Custom Bicycles: A Passionate Pursuit, Images Publishing, →ISBN, page 72, column 2Very few bicycles are of a different color or employ more gears with derailer sprockets and hand brakes. […] In short, most adult commuter bicycles are almost interchangeable; and therein likes the tale. […] At first glance, one wonders how commuters can identify their own machine from the pack of identical black bicycles, particularly if they are in the center of the pack. The answer is, they don't! They simply grab one that is convenient, ride it home, and then return it to the pack the next day.
2009, Louis G. Perez, “Society in the Twenty-first Century”, in Frank W. Thackeray, John E. Findling, editors, The History of Japan (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations), 2nd edition, Westport, Conn.; London: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 202Recent American attempts to further Anglicize the word to “derailer” have met with little success. In any case, no rails are involved.
[2016, Tony Hadland, Hans-Erhard Lessing, Bicycle Design: An Illustrated History, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 246
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of derail: A device placed on railway tracks in order to cause a train to derail.
Origin
- Frenchdérailleur
- Englishderailer
From derail + -er. Sense 2 is an Anglicization of French dérailleur. Doublet of derailleur.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with derailer
Anagrams
Cite this entry
derailer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derailer
“derailer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derailer. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “derailer,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/derailer.
Source: derailer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.