Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Truss \Truss\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Trussed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Trussing}.] [F. trousser. See {Truss}, n.]
   1. To bind or pack close; to make into a truss. --Shak.

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

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

            Who trussing me as eagle doth his prey. --Spenser.

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

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

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

   {To truss a person} or {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.

Trussing \Truss"ing\, n.
   1. (Arch. & Engin.) The timbers, etc., which form a truss,
      taken collectively. --Weale.

   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.

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