truss, trusse

& a. [Fr. trou e a package, a bundle, in pl.=trousers (q. v.).] [TRUSS, v.] A. As substantive: IMG:content-1502.png:[graphic] I. Ordinary Language: *1. A bundle, a package. "Osmunde made a great tru e of herbys or gra e, wherein he wrapped the childe."- Fabyan: Chronyclc, ch. clxxxvi. 2. A bundle of hay or straw tied together. A tru of hay is 56 lbs. of old or 60 lbs. of new hay, and thirty-six tru es make a load. A tru of straw varies in weight in different places. "He had not been able to get one tru of hay for his horses without going five or six miles."- Macaulay : Hist. Eng ., ch. xii. pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, põt, fate, făt, färe, amidst, what, fall, father; we, wět, here, camel, her, there; 3. A tuft of flowers formed at the top of the main stalk or stem of certain plants; an umbel. "The flowers are pure white, and are borne in tru es without any undue crowding."- Field , Oct. 3, 1885. II. Technically : 1. Arch .: An ornamented corbel, serving to support an entablature or balcony, or to conceal the ends of the beams which really support the structure; in the latter case it is frequently made of galvanized sheet iron. 2. Carp .: A frame to which rigidity is given by staying and bracing, so that its figure shall be incapable of alteration by the turning of the bars about their joints. The simplest frames are of wood, and of few parts. More imposing structures are more complicated, the parts being employed in resisting extension or compre ion. Composite tru es employ both wood and iron; in fact, few of any importance are destitute of bolts and tie-rods. In the simplest form of a tru the tie-beam is sus pended by the king-post from the apex of the angle formed by the meeting of the rafters. In the more complex form the tie-beam is suspended by the queen-posts from two points. 3. Naut .: The iron hoop, stirrup, and clasp by which the middle of a lower yard is secured to the mast. It consists of a hoop on the mast, tightened by means of screws, whose open heads engage the eyes of a stirrup, which is swiveled to the hoop on the yard. 4. Ship build.: A short piece of carved work fitted under the taffrail; chiefly used in small ships. 5. Surg.: An instrument to keep hernia reduced, that is, to retain the intestines within the abdomi nal cavity. The e ential feature is a spring or bandage resting on a pad, which is kept above the orifice of protrusion. The pad is usually kept to its place by a spring which reaches around the body terminating opposite to the ruptured part. The spring is cushioned, and sometimes has pads to give it bearing on special parts. *B. As adj .: Round and thick. "The tiger-cat is about the bigne of a bull-dog, with short legs and a tru body, shaped much like a mastiff." -Dampier: Voyages, an. 1676. tru -beam, s. Build.: An iron frame serving as a beam, girder, or summer. A wooden beam or frame with a tie rod to strengthen it against deflection. This tru ing may be done in two ways: (1) By inserting cast-iron struts, thus placing the whole, or nearly the whole, of the woodwork in a state of tension; (2) by wrought-iron tension-rods, which take the whole of the tension, while the timber is thrown entirely into compre ion.