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.

Truss \Truss\, 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.

            Bearing a truss of trifles at his back. --Spenser.

   Note: A truss of hay in England is 56 lbs. of old and 60 lbs.
         of new hay; a truss of straw is 36 lbs.

   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.

            Puts off his palmer's weed unto his truss, which
            bore The stains of ancient arms.      --Drayton.

   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.

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

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

   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.

   {Truss rod}, a rod which forms the tension member of a
      trussed beam, or a tie rod in a truss.

Source : WordNet®

truss
     n 1: (medicine) a bandage consisting of a pad and belt; worn to
          hold a hernia in place by pressure
     2: a framework of beams forming a rigid structure (as a roof
        truss)
     3: (architecture) a triangular bracket of brick or stone
        (usually of slight extent) [syn: {corbel}]
     v 1: tie the wings and legs of a bird before cooking it
     2: secure with or as if with ropes; "tie down the prisoners";
        "tie up the old newspapes and bring them to the recycling
        shed" [syn: {tie down}, {tie up}, {bind}]
     3: support structurally; "truss the roofs"; "trussed bridges"