truss
/trʌs
/noun
1A framework, typically consisting of rafters, posts, and struts, supporting a roof, bridge, or other structure: roof trusses...
- We had to dismantle the roof structure without any trusses or center ring apparatus free-falling.
- Again, two crossbeams with camel's hump-shaped braces support the roof truss, and there is no king post.
- To provide this stability, the roof trusses were connected by pins to reinforced-concrete buttresses, or thrust blocks, at each end.
Synonyms
support, buttress, joist, brace, prop, strut, stay, stanchion, shore, pier
1.1A large projection of stone or timber, typically one supporting a cornice.Supported by timber trusses and arboreal columns, the restaurant's great monopitch roof recalls the traditional African stoep or veranda....
- Outside, the house is articulated by angled timber trusses, slatted decking and louvered sun guards.
- From the low-beamed ceiling he unlashed a hammock and tied it to a truss by the fireplace wall.
2A surgical appliance worn to support a hernia, typically a padded belt.For symptomatic hernias in younger men a truss may allow continuation of heavy work with greater comfort while awaiting operation....
- Wearing a truss may help to relieve the discomfort of a hernia, but will not improve the condition, and in some cases can cause further damage.
- A truss is rarely used nowadays, only when surgery is not possible or needs to be delayed.
Synonyms
surgical appliance, support, pad
3British, chiefly historical A bundle of old hay (56 lb), new hay (60 lb), or straw (36 lb).In 1795, Parliament specified that a truss of hay should equal 56 pounds for old hay or 60 pounds (about 27.2 kilograms) for new hay....
- But when Saturday morning came the thief got up early and hid himself under a truss of hay in the hayloft.
- A truss of hay of 66 pounds is therefore equal to 28 pounds of oats, or a bushel of the best oats will go as far as one truss and a half of hay.
4A compact cluster of flowers or fruit growing on one stalk.Flowers were pollinated by hand and trusses pruned to four fruit....
- A weekly assessment of the number of flowers per truss and trusses per plant was also made.
- All axillary buds were removed, and six fruits were retained per truss.
5 Sailing A heavy metal ring securing the lower yards to a mast.For, without the truss, the sail and its yard would be blown from the mast, so as to swing about, by the action of the wind, and the rolling of the vessel....
- Once deployed, the sails would be supported by ultralightweight trusses.
- The truss units have quite a sophisticated internal shape to incorporate the winch and drive units for furling and unfurling the sails.
verb [with object]
1Tie up the wings and legs of (a chicken or other bird) before cooking: Alfred had already trussed and stuffed the geese...
- She follows the clear directions for trussing the bird.
- Here I have trussed my chicken for the first time.
- Having plucked and trussed these long beaked birds, leaving the remaining entrails undisturbed, pull out the stomachs and intestines (guts).
1.1Tie up (someone) with their arms at their sides: I found him trussed up in his cupboard...
- He soon came to the realisation that he was trussed up and hanging upside down from what looked like a fish hook, a bigger version of that at least.
- The weaker members were trussed up and tied to the backs of the elephants.
- He was trussed up with those chains like a sacrifice laid out for slaughter.
Synonyms
tie up, bind, chain up;
pinion, fetter, tether, secure, fasten
1.2 (usually be trussed up in) Dress (someone) in elaborate or uncomfortable clothing: he was trussed up in a heavily padded suit, complete with face mask and protective gloves
2 (usually as adjective trussed) Support (a roof, bridge, or other structure) with a truss or trusses.The response of engineers to this disaster was to go back to building bridges with reinforced trussed decks....
- Traditional construction of trussed roofs has these timbers built into the main walls for bearing in what is the most likely part of the wall to be wet.
- Unseen above the ceiling of the nave, inserted in 1670-1, is Kempley's second exceptional feature, its roof of trussed rafter construction.
Derivatives
trusser
- A quote is only accepted and processed after full payment, which I had done for the trussers by the 3rd September.
- You will know before hand where to exactly locate the core, where to put trussers to support the structure, the area per floor that will still be available after the structure is done.
- These trussers are extremely lightweight, strong and long life is guaranteed.
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'bundle'): from Old French trusse (noun), trusser 'pack up, bind in', based on late Latin tors- 'twisted', from the verb torquere. sense 1 of the noun dates from the mid 17th century.
trousseau from Middle English:
The romantic trousseau conjures up an image of a blushing bride in flowing white or smart honeymoon outfit, but the original meaning was simply a bundle or package, and it did not acquire its modern meaning until the 1830s. The word derives from French trousse, an earlier form of which gave us truss (Middle English) ‘a supporting framework’, and ‘a surgical support for a hernia’.