truss 
babies and apes contes, others straight trusses and diuells 
breeches, some gaily gsscoynes, or a shipmans hose. 
Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, p. 20. 
Gasp. Canst be close? 
Qorg. As ... a pair of trusses to an Irishman's but- 
tocks. Shirley, Love Tricks, i. 1. 
7. In building, a stiff frame ; a combination of 
timbers, of iron parts, or of timbers and iron- 
work, so arranged as to constitute an unyield- 
ing frame. The simplest example of a truss is the prin- 
cipal or main couple of a roof (see cuts under roo/i and 
queen-post), in which the tie-beam is suspended in the mid- 
ale by the king-post to the apex of the angle formed by the 
meeting of the rafters. The feet of the rafters being tied 
together by the beam, and being thus incapable of yielding 
in the direction of their length, their apex becomes a fixed 
point, to which the beam is trussed or tied up to prevent 
its sagging, and to pi-event the rafters from sagging struts 
are inserted. There are other forms of truss suited to dif- 
ferent purposes, but the conditions are the same in all 
namely, the establishing of fixed points to which the tie- 
beam is trussed. Two points of attachment are sometimes 
substituted for the single one, and two suspending posts 
are required ; these are called queen-posts, and the truss is 
called a queen-poet truss. The principle of the truss is of 
very wide application in bridge-building. Trusses of vari- 
ous forms are much used in iron-construction. 
8. In arch., a large corbel or modillion support- 
ing a mural monument or any object projecting 
from the face of a wall. See crossct, 1 (a), with 
cut. 9. Inship-buiMing, a short piece of carved 
work fitted under the taffrail : chiefly used in 
small ships. 10. A heavy iron fitting by which 
the lower yards of vessels are secured to the 
lower mast and on which they swing. Formerly 
yards were kept in place by trusses of rope which passed 
round the yard and mast and were kept taut by truss- 
tackles which were hooked to the truss-pendants. 
Howe truss, a beam-truss having its oblique members 
in compression and with vertical tie-rods. The counter- 
Trusses. 
a, Pratt truss ; b, Howe truss. 
braces pass between the main obliques. Linville truss, 
a beam-truss of which the web-members are composed of 
vertical posts and diagonal rods or bars extending from 
the head of one post to the foot of the second post beyond. 
McCallum inflexible arch-truss, a beam-truss with 
an arched upper chord, and inclined struts extending 
from it to the abutment end of the lower chord. It has 
posts and diagonals, the distance between the former di- 
minishing from the middle toward the ends. See fifth cut 
under frridi/ei.Mocniain truss. See mocmain. Pratt 
truss, a beam-truss having vertical posts and inclined 
tension-members. See fig. a, above. Eider truss. See 
rider. Truss-arch bridge. See trussed-arch bridge, un- 
der bridge^. 
truss (trus), a. l< truss, .] Bunchy; stumpy; 
stocky ; round and thick. 
The tiger-cat is about the bigness of a bull-dog, with 
short legs, and a truss body, shaped much like a mastiff. 
Dampier, Voyages, an. 1676. 
truss-beam (trus'bem), w. A wooden beam re- 
inforced by a tie-rod, or a compound wooden 
beam composed of two or more wooden mem- 
bers and reinforced by means of a tie-rod, or a 
built-up beam of iron arranged in the form of 
a truss. The most simple form is a single piece of tim- 
ber having an iron tie-rod on the under side secured at 
6 
Truss-beams. 
a. with cast-iron strut ; 6, with wrought-iron tension-rod. 
each end of the beam, serving to resist the strain of ten- 
sion on the under side of the beam when carrying a load. 
The lower beams of a railroad passenger-car are a good 
example. Another and less common form is a wooden 
beam having cast-iron struts to resist the strain of com- 
pression. Several beams united and reinforced by a tie- 
rod may form a compound truss-beam. Iron truss-beams 
have usually only tie-rods of wrought-iron, with some- 
times box-beams for the upper chord. Truss-beams are 
used in car-building, in roofs of all kinds, and for short 
bridges. See beam, truss, and bridge^. 
truss-block (trus'blok), . A block between 
a truss-rod and the compression-member of a 
trussed beam. It keeps the two at their proper 
distance apart. 
truss-bridge (trus'brij), . A bridge which de- 
pends for its stability upon an application of 
the principle of the truss. See bridge^. 
trussed (trust), a. [< truss + -c<Z 2 .] 1. Pro- 
vided with some form of truss: as, a trussed 
roof; a trussed beam. 2. In her., same as 
close^, 10 (/): used of a bird. Trussed-arch 
bridge. See bridge^. Trussed girder. See girderi, 2. 
trusselH (trus'el), n. [ME. trussel, <OF. trous- 
sel, F. trousseau, a bundle, dim. of trousse, a 
bundle: see truss, and cf. trousseau.] A bundle. 
6512 
trussel 2 (trus'l), . Same as trestle*. 
trusseltree (trus'1-tre), n. Same as trestlctree. 
trusser (trus'er), n. One who or that which 
trusses. 
Hay and straw trussers. The Engineer, LXVII. 292. 
trussest, . /</. See trxxx, 6. 
truss-hoop (trus'hop), . In coopering, a tem- 
porary hoop which may be placed around a 
barrel and tightened, to draw the staves snug- 
ly together or to hold them in position while 
one that has become broken or decayed is be- 
ing replaced. E. H. Knight. 
trussing (trus'ing), n. [Verbal n. of truss, v.~\ 
In building, the timbers, etc., which form a truss. 
Diagonal trussing, in ship-building, a particular 
methoa of binding a vessel internally or externally, or 
both, by means of a series of wooden or iron braces laid di- 
agonally on the framing from one end of the ship to the 
other. 
trussing-bedt (trus'ing-bed), n. A bed which 
could be packed, as in a chest, for traveling. 
Halliwell. 
trussing-machine (trus'ing-ma-shen*), n. In 
coopering, a machine for forcing truss-hoops 
upon casks. E. H. Knight. 
truss-piece (trus'pes), n. A filling piece be- 
tween the compartments of a framed truss. E. 
H. Knight. 
tmss-plank (trus'plangk), . In a railway pas- 
senger-car, a wide piece of timber fastened on 
the inside of the car to the posts of the frame 
directly above the sills. 
truss-rod (trus'rod), . A tie-rod fastened to 
the ends of a beam and bearing against a king- 
post at the middle, or against queen-posts or 
truss-blocks between the rod and the beam at 
intermediate points. It serves to resist deflec- 
tion of the beam, 
truss-tackle (trus'tak'l), n. A tackle former- 
ly used with rope trusses for lower yards to 
truss the yard close in to the mast. 
trust 1 (trust), n. and a. [Also, in a sense now 
differentiated, tryst, q. v.; < ME. trust, trost, 
also trist, tryst, trest (not found in AS., and in 
part of Scand. origin) ; = OFries. trdst, com- 
fort, = MD. D. troost, comfort, consolation, 
= MLG. trost, consolation, confidence, trust, = 
OHG. MHG. trost, G. trost, trust, help, protec- 
tion, = Goth, trausti, covenant, treaty, = Icel. 
traust, trust, protection, shelter, confidence, 
reliance, = Sw. Dan. trost, comfort, consolation; 
cf . OS. getrost, a following, ML. trustis, a pledge, 
a following; Icel. traustr, adj., safe, strong, 
firm; akin to AS. treowe, etc., true, treowian, 
believe, trow, from the Teut. -\/ <*" see true, 
trow 1 .] I. n. 1. Reliance on the veracity, in- 
tegrity, justice, friendship, or other virtue or 
sound principle of another; a firm reliance on 
promises or on laws or principles ; confidence; 
belief. 
Always ban fulle trust and beleeve in God oure Sov- 
ereyn Lord. Mandeville, Travels, p. 167. 
Gramercy! for on you is al my triste. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 1305. 
I hope a true and plain relation of my misfortunes may 
be of use and warning to credulous maids, never to put 
too much trust in deceitful men. 
Stctft, Story of the Injured Lady. 
There did not seem a sufficient number of men worthy 
of trust to assist the king with their councils, or fill with 
any degree of dignity the places that were vacant. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, II. 121. 
2. Confident expectation ; assured anticipa- 
tion; dependence upon something future or 
contingent as if present or actual ; hope. 
To desperation turn my trust and hope ! 
Shak., Hamlet, iii. 2. 228. 
His trust was with th' Eternal to be deem'd 
Equal In strength. Milton, P. L., ii. 46. 
Sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 
Bryant, Thanatopsis. 
3. That on which one relies or in which he con- 
fides ; ground of reliance, confidence, or hope. 
Blessed is that man that maketh the lord his trust. 
Ps. xl. 4. 
Who in the fear of God didst bear 
The sword of power, a nation's trust. 
Bryant, Abraham Lincoln. 
4. Credit, (a) Mere reliance on the character or rep- 
utation of a person or thing, without investigation or evi- 
dence : preceded by on: as, to take opinions or statements 
on trust. 
For we live in an age so sceptical that, as it determines 
little, so it takes nothing from antiquity on trust. 
Dryden, Def. of Epil. to 2d pt. Conq. of Granada. 
Some . . . taking things upon trust, misemploy their 
power of assent by lazily enslaving their minds to the dic- 
tates and dominion of others. 
Locke, Human Understanding, I. iv. 22. 
trust 
(b) Confidence in the ability and intention of one who 
does not pay ready money to pay at some definite or in- 
definite time in the future : as, to buy or sell on trust. 
Ev'n such is time ; which takes in trust 
Our youth, our joys, our all we have ! 
And pays us nought but age and dust. 
llaleiyh, Ellis's Spec, of Early Eng. Poetry, II. 224. 
I fear you must be forced, like the rest of your sisters, 
to run in trust, and pay for it out of your wages. 
Swift, Advice to Servants (Waiting-Maid). 
5. In law : (a) A confidence reposed in a per- 
son by making him the nominal owner of prop- 
erty which he is to hold, use, or dispose of for 
the benefit of another. (6) The right on the 
part of such other to enjoy the use or the profits 
or to require a disposal of the property for his 
benefit, (c) The relation between persons and 
property which arises when the legal owner- 
ship is given to one person, called the trustee, 
and the beneficial enjoyment or advantages of 
ownership are given or reserved to another, the 
ccstui que trust or beneficiary. Property is some- 
times said to be held in trust when the possession of it is 
intrusted to one person while another remains both legal 
and beneficial owner ; but this is not technically a trust, 
although the person so intrusted in some respects maybe 
held to the same duty and accountability as a trustee, 
and is sometimes spoken of as such. 
The fictitious entities characterised by the two abstract 
terms trust and condition are not subalternate but dis- 
parate. To speak with perfect precision, we should say 
that he who is invested with a trust is, on that account, 
spoken of as being invested with a condition : viz. the 
condition of a'trustee. 
Bentham, Introd. to Morals and Legislation, xvi. 26, note. 
6. That which is committed or intrusted to 
one, as for safe-keeping or use. (a) That which 
has been committed to one's care for profitable use or for 
safe-keeping, of which an account must be rendered. 
Although the advantages one man ppssesseth more than 
another may be called his property with respect to other 
men, yet with respect to God they are only a trust. Swift. 
The English doctrine that all power is a trntt for the 
public good [was] . . . making rapid progress. 
Macaulay, Walpole's Letters. 
Public office is a public trust. 
Dorman B. Eaton, in Cyc. Polit. Science, I. 479 (1881). 
(6) Something confided to one's faith ; a charge given or 
received in confidence ; something which one is bound in 
duty and in honor to keep inviolate ; a duty incumbent 
on one. 
To violate the sacred trust of silence 
Deposited within thee. Milton, S. A., 1. 428. 
Humility obliges no Man to desert his Trust, to throw 
up his Privilege, and prove false to his Character. 
Jeremy Collier, Short View (ed. 1698), p. 137. 
"If men accept trusts they must fulfill them, my dear," 
cries the master of the house. Thackeray, Philip, xv. 
7. Specifically, in mod. com. usage, an organiza- 
tion for the control of several corporations un- 
der one direction by the device of a transfer by 
the stockholders in each corporation of at least 
a majority of the stock to a central committee or 
board of trustees, who issue in return to such 
stockholders respectively certificates showing 
in effect that, although they have parted with 
their stock and the consequent voting power, 
they are still entitled to dividends or to share in 
the profits the object being to enable the trus- 
tees to elect directors in all the corporations, 
to control and suspend at pleasure the work of 
any, and thus to economize expenses, regulate 
production, and defeat competition, in a looser 
sense the term is applied to any combination of estab- 
lishments in the same line of business for securing the 
same ends by holding the individual interests of each sub- 
servient to a common authority for the common interests 
of all. It is against public policy for a stockholder to di- 
vest himself of his voting power; hence such a transfer 
of stock if made is revocable at the pleasure of the maker. 
So far as the object of such a combination is shown to be 
the control of prices of and the prevention of competition 
in the necessaries or conveniences of life, it is held a crimi- 
nal act upon the principles which rendered engrossing 
and forestalling punishable ; and a corporation which by 
corporate act surrenders its powers to the control of a 
trust thereby affords ground for a forfeiture of its charter 
by the state. 
8. The state of being confided in and relied 
on ; the state of one to whom something is in- 
trusted. 
I do profess to be no less than I seem ; to serve him 
truly that will put me in trust. Shak., Lear, i. 4. 16. 
It seeraes when he was deputy in Ireland, not long be- 
fore, he had ben much wronged by one he left in trust with 
his affaires. Evelyn, Diary, Oct. 27, 1675. 
9. The state of being confided to another's care 
or guard ; charge. 
His seal'd commission, left in trust with me, 
Doth speak sufficiently he 's gone to travel. 
Shak., Pericles, i. 3. 13. 
10. Keeping; care. 
That which is committed to thy trust.. 1 Tim. vi. 20. 
lit. Trustworthiness. 
A man he is of honesty and trust. 
Shak., Othello, i. 3. 285. 
