n. [ OE. trusse, F. trousse, OF. also tourse; perhaps fr. L. tryrsus stalk, stem. Cf. Thyrsus, Torso, Trousers, Trousseau. ] 1. A bundle; a package; as, a truss of grass. Fabyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bearing a truss of trifles at his back. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ A truss of hay in England is 56 lbs. of old and 60 lbs. of new hay; a truss of straw is 36 lbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A padded jacket or dress worn under armor, to protect the body from the effects of friction; also, a part of a woman's dress; a stomacher. [ Obs. ] Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

Puts off his palmer's weed unto his truss, which bore
The stains of ancient arms. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Surg.) A bandage or apparatus used in cases of hernia, to keep up the reduced parts and hinder further protrusion, and for other purposes. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Bot.) A tuft of flowers formed at the top of the main stalk, or stem, of certain plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Naut.) The rope or iron used to keep the center of a yard to the mast. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Arch. & Engin.) An assemblage of members of wood or metal, supported at two points, and arranged to transmit pressure vertically to those points, with the least possible strain across the length of any member. Architectural trusses when left visible, as in open timber roofs, often contain members not needed for construction, or are built with greater massiveness than is requisite, or are composed in unscientific ways in accordance with the exigencies of style. [ 1913 Webster ]

Truss rod, a rod which forms the tension member of a trussed beam, or a tie rod in a truss. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Trussed p. pr. & vb. n. Trussing. ] [ F. trousser. See Truss, n. ] 1. To bind or pack close; to tie up tightly; to make into a truss. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

It [ his hood ] was trussed up in his wallet. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To take fast hold of; to seize and hold firmly; to pounce upon. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Who trussing me as eagle doth his prey. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To strengthen or stiffen, as a beam or girder, by means of a brace or braces. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To skewer; to make fast, as the wings of a fowl to the body in cooking it. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To execute by hanging; to hang; -- usually with up. [ Slang. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

To truss a person or
To truss one's self, to adjust and fasten the clothing of; especially, to draw tight and tie the laces of garments. [ Obs. ] “Enter Honeysuckle, in his nightcap, trussing himself.” J. Webster (1607). --
To truss up, to strain; to make close or tight. --
Trussed beam, a beam which is stiffened by a system of braces constituting a truss of which the beam is a chord. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Arch. & Engin.) The timbers, etc., which form a truss, taken collectively. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch. & Engin.) The art of stiffening or bracing a set of timbers, or the like, by putting in struts, ties, etc., till it has something of the character of a truss. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of a hawk, or other bird of prey, in seizing its quarry, and soaring with it into air. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]