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 tie up tightly; 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 {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.
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.]