trussing


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truss

 (trŭs)
n.
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. An architectural 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.
tr.v. 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.

[Middle English trusse, bundle, from Old French trousse, from torser, trousser, to truss, possibly from Vulgar Latin *torsāre, from *torsus, variant of Latin tortus, past participle of torquēre, to twist; see terkw- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

trussing

(ˈtrʌsɪŋ)
n
1. (General Engineering) a system of trusses, esp for strengthening or reinforcing a structure
2. (General Engineering) the parts or members that form a truss
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
References in classic literature ?
"Wait a minute, we'll make him tidy first," and Lizaveta Petrovna laid the red wobbling thing on the bed, began untrussing and trussing up the baby, lifting it up and turning it over with one finger and powdering it with something.
They were tied to prevent their flying away, doubled up with their knees close to their ears; and for the trussing of them the black pirate had cut a rope into nine equal pieces.