Library / English Dictionary

TRUSS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(architecture) a triangular bracket of brick or stone (usually of slight extent)

Synonyms:

corbel; truss

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("truss" is a kind of...):

bracket; wall bracket (a support projecting from a wall (as to hold a shelf))

Domain category:

architecture (the discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A framework of beams (rafters, posts, struts) forming a rigid structure that supports a roof or bridge or other structure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("truss" is a kind of...):

frame; framework (a structure supporting or containing something)

Holonyms ("truss" is a part of...):

truss bridge (a bridge supported by trusses)

Derivation:

truss (support structurally)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(medicine) a bandage consisting of a pad and belt; worn to hold a hernia in place by pressure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("truss" is a kind of...):

bandage; patch (a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body)

Domain category:

medical specialty; medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Support structurally

Example:

trussed bridges

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "truss" is one way to...):

hold; hold up; support; sustain (be the physical support of; carry the weight of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

truss (a framework of beams (rafters, posts, struts) forming a rigid structure that supports a roof or bridge or other structure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Secure with or as if with ropes

Example:

tie up the old newspapers and bring them to the recycling shed

Synonyms:

bind; tie down; tie up; truss

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "truss" is one way to...):

confine; constrain; hold; restrain (to close within bounds, or otherwise limit or deprive of free movement)

"Truss" entails doing...:

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "truss"):

chain up (tie up with chains)

faggot; faggot up; fagot (bind or tie up in or as if in a faggot)

faggot; fagot (fasten together rods of iron in order to heat or weld them)

hog-tie (tie together somebody's limbs)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Tie the wings and legs of a bird before cooking it

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "truss" is one way to...):

bind; tie (fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Alleyne gazed upon the scene—the portly velvet-clad official, the knot of hard-faced archers with their hands to the bridles of their horses, the thief with his arms trussed back and his doublet turned down upon his shoulders.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)