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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)