truss

(trus)

transitive verb

  1. to tie, bind, or bundle: often with up
  2. to skewer or bind the wings and legs of (a fowl) before cooking
  3. to support or strengthen with a truss

Origin: ME trussen < OFr trousser, to bundle together, pack < ? VL *torsare < *torsus, for L tortus, pp. of torquere, to twist: see tort

noun

  1. a bundle or pack; specif., in England, a bundle of hay in any of various unit weights
  2. an iron band around a mast, having a gooseneck for securing a yard
  3. an architectural bracket or modillion
  4. a flower cluster growing at the tip of a stem
  5. a rigid framework of beams, girders, struts, bars, etc. for supporting a roof, bridge, etc.
  6. an appliance for giving support in cases of rupture or hernia, usually consisting of a pad on a special belt

Origin: ME trusse < OFr trousse < trousser

Related Forms:

See truss in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. Medicine A supportive device, usually a pad with a belt, worn to prevent enlargement of a hernia or the return of a reduced hernia.
  2. a. A rigid framework, as of wooden beams or metal bars, designed to support a structure, such as a roof.
    b. Architecture A bracket.
  3. Something gathered into a bundle; a pack.
  4. Nautical An iron fitting by which a lower yard is secured to a mast.
  5. Botany A compact cluster of flowers at the end of a stalk.
transitive verb trussed, truss·ing, truss·es
  1. To tie up or bind tightly.
  2. To bind or skewer the wings or legs of (a fowl) before cooking.
  3. To support or brace with a truss.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English trusse, bundle

Origin: , from Old French trousse

Origin: , from torser, trousser, to truss

Origin: , possibly from Vulgar Latin *torsāre

Origin: , from *torsus

Origin: , variant of Latin tortus

Origin: , past participle of torquēre, to twist; see terkw- in Indo-European roots

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