pun·cheon 1 
(pŭnchən)
(pŭnchən)n.
1. A short wooden upright used in structural framing.
2.
a. A piece of broad, heavy, roughly dressed timber with one face finished flat.
b. A walkway over wet ground made by laying planks or dressed timbers over sills set directly on the ground.
c. A short low bridge of similar construction. Also called puncheon bridge.
3. A punching, perforating, or stamping tool, especially one used by a goldsmith.
[Middle English punchoun, from Anglo-Norman ponchon, punching or piercing tool, piercing weapon, vertical strut, from Vulgar Latin *pūnctiō, pūnctiōn-, from *pūnctiāre, to pierce, from Latin pūnctus, past participle of pungere, to prick; see peuk- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
puncheon1along the Twinway trail, a section of the Appalachian Trail, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire