trout-stream 
trout-stream (trout'strem), n. A stream in 
which trout breed or may be taken. 
trout-tackle (trout'tak"!), . Fishing-tackle 
specially adapted or designed for taking trout. 
trouty (trou'ti),. [< trout 1 + -.i/ 1 .] Abounding 
in trout. 
Little inconsiderable rivers, as Awber, Eroways, and the 
like, scarce worth naming, but trouty too. 
Cotton, in Walton's Angler, ii. 231. 
trouvere (tro-var'), . [F., < trouver, find: see 
troubadour.'] One of the medieval poets of 
northern France, whose productions partake 
of a narrative or epic character, and thus con- 
trast broadly with the lyrical, amatory, and 
more polished effusions of the troubadours. 
The works of the trouveres include the chansons de geste, 
the fabliaux, poems of the Round Table cycle, the "Ro- 
mance of the Rose," " Reynard the Fox," etc. Also trou- 
veur. 
It is to the North of France and to the Trouveres that 
we are to look for the true origins of our modern litera- 
ture. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 242. 
trover (tro'ver), n. [< OF. trover, F. trouver = 
Pr. trobar = Sp. Pg. trovar = It. trovare, find, in- 
vent, < ML. "tropare, compose, sing. Cf. trou- 
badour, trouvere, and treasure-trove.] Properly, 
the finding of anything; specifically, in law: 
(a) the gaining possession of personal prop- 
erty, whether by finding or otherwise ; (6) a 
common-law action for damages for the wrong- 
ful taking or detention of goods from the posses- 
sion of another. Originally this action was based on the 
finding by defendant of the plaintiff's goods and converting 
them to his own use. In course of time, however, the 
suggestion of the finding became mere matter of form, and 
all that had to be proved was that the goods were the 
plaintilf's and that the defendant had converted them to 
his own use. In this action the plaintiff could not recover 
the specific chattel, but only damages for its conversion. 
The action for such damages is now called an action for 
conversion. 
trow 1 (tro), v. t. [< ME. trowen, trouwen, treu- 
wen, treowen, < AS. treowian, truwian, believe, 
trust, confide, also show to be true, justify, = 
OS. truon = OFries. trouwa = D. vertrouwen, 
trust (trouwen, marry), = MLG. truwen = OHG. 
triuweu, truwen, truen, MHG. truwen, truen, trou- 
wen, trowen, G. trauen, hope, believe, trust, = 
Icel. ti'ua = Sw. Dan. tro, believe, = Goth, trau- 
an, believe, trust; connected with the adj. AS. 
treowe, etc., true, from a root (Teut. -\/ tru) 
found also in trust: see true, a., true, n., and 
trut.~\ If. To believe; trust. 
Whoso wol trowe her love 
Ne may offenden never more. 
Rom. of the Hose, 1. 3215. 
Then repentant they 'gan cry, 
my heart that trow'd mine eye ! 
Greene, Isabel's Ode. 
2. To think; suppose. 
Thei saugh the Castell so fer fro thens that thei trowed 
not the Eounde of the home myght not thider ben herde. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 605. 
We'll ca' our horse hame masterless, 
An' gar them trow slain men are we. 
Battle of Bothwell Bridge (Child's Ballads, VII. 150> 
Said the Cardinal, I trow you are one of the King's 
Privy-Chamber, your Name is Walsh. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 279. 
Doth he thank that servant because he did the things 
that were commanded him ? I trow not. Luke xvii. 9. 
I trow, or trow, a phrase added to questions, and expres- 
sive of contemptuous or indignant surprise : nearly equiv. 
alent to / wonder. 
What tempest, / trow, threw this whale . . . ashore ? 
Shak., M. W. of W., ii. 1. 64. 
What have I done, trow, 
To bring these fears about me? 
Beau, and Fl., Wit at Several Weapons, v. 2. 
What ails he, trow' Chapman, All Fools, iii. 1. 
trow 2 (trou), n. [A var. of trough.'] 1. A 
channel or spout of wood for conveying water 
to a mill; a flume: sometimes used in the 
plural with the same sense: as, the mill-iroww. 
[Scotch.] 2. A boat with an open live-well 
for fish; a sort of fishing-smack or lighter. 
To assist and counseil theym in theire byeng and bar- 
ganyng with the Bagers,such as bryngeth whete to towne, 
as wele in trowys as otherwyse, by lande and by watir, in 
kepyng downe of the market. 
English CKlds (E. E. T. S.X p. 424. 
trow 3 (trou), n. Same as drow^ and troll' 2 . 
trowandiset, . Same as truandise. Bom. of 
the Rose, 1. 3954. 
trowantt, a. and . A Middle English form of 
truant. 
trowel (trou'el),. [Early mod. E. trmvell, tru- 
ell; < ME. truel, trulle, trowylle, < OF. truelle, tru- 
ele, < L. trulla, a small ladle, a dipper, dim. of 
trua, a stirring-spoon, skimmer, ladle.] 1. A 
tool, generally consisting of a flat long triangu- 
lar, oval, or oblong blade of iron or steel, fitted 
6504 
with a handle, used by masons, plasterers, and 
bricklayers for spreading and dressing mortar 
Trowels. 
a, Lowell pattern brick-trowel ; b, bricklayers' trowel ; c, London 
pattern trowel ; d, Philadelphia pattern brick-trowel ; e,/, g, molders' 
trowels ; h, pointing-trowel ; i, plasterers' trowel ; j, comer-trowel ; 
k, garden-trowels. 
and plaster, and for cutting bricks, and also by 
molders for smoothing the surface of the sand 
or loam composing the mold. 
In one hand Swords, in th' other Trowels hold. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Decay. 
2. A gardeners' tool, like a small spade or scoop, 
used for taking up plants and for other pur- 
poses. See figs, k, above. 
The Intel firste ful ofte it must distreyne. 
PaUadius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.X p. 16. 
3. A tool used in oil-cloth manufacturing to 
spread paint and remove what may be super- 
fluous. It is made of steel, is 2 feet long, and 
very elastic, and has a handle near the broad 
end To lay on with a trowel, to lay or spread thick- 
ly and coarsely ; hence, to flatter grossly. 
Well said : that was laid on with a trowel. 
Shak., As you Like it, i. 2. 112. 
trowel (trou'el), v. t.; pret. and pp. troweled, 
trowelled, ppr. troweling, trowelling. [< trowel, 
.] To dress, form, or apply with a trowel : as, 
troweled stucco. 
trowel-bayonet (trou'el-ba"o-net), n. See bay- 
onet. 
trowelbeak (trou'el-bek), n. One of the broad- 
throats, or birds of the family Eurylsemidee ; the 
Corydon sumatranus of Sumatra : so called from 
truant 
epimera of the mesothorax not reaching the 
rounded coxse. They are oval dark-colored beetles, 
usually with a rough surface. They feed upon decompos- 
ing animal matter, and many species are found about the 
refuse of tanneries and upon the hoofs and hair of decaying 
animals. About 100 species are known, of which about 20 
are found in the United States, as T. inonachus. 
troy (troi). n. Short for troy weight. 
troy weight (troi wat). [Early mod. E. also 
Troie weight, earlier weight of Troy (weyght of 
Troyes, Arnold's Chron., p. 108) : so called with 
ref. to Troyes, a town in France, southeast of 
Paris, of considerable importance in the four- 
teenth century. Nearly all the principal towns 
or seats of commerce in the middle ages had 
their own weights and measures, the pound, 
foot, gallon, etc., varying from one town to an- 
other, sometimes even from one quarter to an- 
other. The pound of Troyes in the early part 
of the fourteenth century was adopted to some 
extent in other places and in England, but was 
then specifically designated as " of Troyes" (E. 
of Troy). Later, troy weight losing recognized 
connection with a locality, the first element 
became a mere attributive, and the phrase was 
thus generally reduced to troy . ] A weight chief- 
ly used in weighing bread, silk, gold, silver, and 
articles of jewelry, but now only for gold and 
silver. It was brought into England in the latter part 
of the reign of Edward III., and was adopted for the 
coinage in 1527. The table of troy weight is as follows : 
Pound. 
1 = 
Ounces. 
12 
1 
Pennyweights. Grains. 
= 240 = 5,760 
20 = 480 
1 = 24 
is troy. See 
Trowelbeak (Loryttort sumatranus), with outline of beak 
from above. 
the shape of the very broad, depressed beak, 
which is about as wide at the base as it is long. 
trowlt, . and n. An obsolete spelling of train. 
trowsedt, . See troused. 
trowseringt, H. An obsolete spelling of trou- 
sering. 
trowserst, trowzerst, n. pi. Obsolete spellings 
of trousers. 
Trox (treks), n. [NL. (Fabricius, 1792), < Gr. rpuf , 
a weevil, lit. ' a gnawer,' < rpa-yciv, gnaw.] A cu- 
rious genus of laparostict scarabseid beetles, 
having five ventral segments visible and the 
Trox menachus. 
, larva ; b, pupa ; c , beetle ; d, e, f, leg, cervical piate, and 
maxilla (with palpi) of larva, enlarged. 
The pound avoirdupois is equal to 7,000 graii 
avoirdupois and weight. 
Item, to do make me vj. sponys, of viij. ounce of troy- 
u-yght, well facyond and dubbyl gylt. 
Ponton Letters, I. 422. 
trut, n. See true. 
truaget (tro'aj), . See trewage. 
truancy (tro'an-si), n. [< truan(t) + -cy.~\ Tru- 
ant conduct; the habit or practice of playing 
truant. 
I had many nattering reproaches for my late truancy 
from these parties. Mme. D'Arblay, Diary, I. 663. 
Agent of truancy. See agent. 
truandt, truandingt. Old spellings of truant, 
truanting. 
truandiset, [ME., also truaundise, truwan- 
dise, trowandise, trowantyse, < OF. truandise, < 
truand, vagabond: see truant."] A vagrant life 
with begging. Bom. of the Rose, 1. 6664. 
truant (tro'ant), n. and a. [Formerly also tri- 
rant; < ME. truant, truaunt, truand, trewande, 
truont, trowant (= MD. trouwant, trawant, tru- 
want), < OF. truand, truant, a vagabond, beg- 
gar, rogue ; also adj. truand, beggarly, roguish ; 
= Pr. truan (truanda, fern.), a vagabond, = Sp. 
truhan = Pg. truao (ML. reflex truannus, tru- 
danus, trutanus, trutannus), a buffoon, jester; 
prob. < Bret.'truan, later (after F.) truant, vaga- 
bond (cf. trueJc, a wretch, truez, pity, etc.), = 
W. truan, wretched, truan, a wretch (cf. tru, 
wretched), etc.] I. n. If. A vagabond; a va- 
grant ; an idler. 
All thynges at this day faileth at Rome, except all onely 
these ydell trewandes, iestours, tumblers, plaiers, . . . 
iuglers, and such other, of whom there is fnow and to 
many. Golden Book, xii. 
2. One who shirks or neglects duty ; especially, 
a child who stays away from school without 
leave. 
I have a truant been to chivalry. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., v. 1. 94. 
To play truant, to stay from school without leave. 
Truant-school, a certified industrial school to which in 
Great Britain children who habitually absent themselves 
from school without leave, or who frequent the company 
of rogues or criminals, are committed by order of a magis- 
trate, under the provisions of the Elementary Education 
Act, 1876. 
II. <i. 1. Idle; loitering; given to shirking 
duty or business, or attendance at some ap- 
pointed time or place: especially noting chil- 
dren who absent themselves from school with- 
out leave. 
A truant boy I pass'd my bounds, 
1" enjoy a ramble on the banks of Thames. 
Cotcper, Task, i. 114. 
2. Characteristic of a truant ; idle; loitering; 
wandering. 
Ham. But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg 1 
Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 2. 169. 
To lag behind with truant pace. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Oeorgics, iii. 708. 
truant (tro'ant), c. [< ME. truaiitcii, fmirnnten, 
tnt/itidcn, < OF. inlander, play the truant, < tru- 
iinil, truant: see truant, n.] l.intrans. To idle 
away time or shirk duty ; play truant. 
