cruck

American  

[kruhk] / krʌk /

noun

1. (in old English building) one of a pair of naturally curved timbers forming one of several rigid arched frames supporting the roof of a cottage or farm building.

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cruck British  

/ krʌk /

noun

1. one of a pair of curved wooden timbers supporting the end of the roof in certain types of building

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Etymology

Origin of cruck

First recorded in 1885–90; variant of crook ¹

Example Sentences

To Norman Barka and other archaeologists at William and Mary, the regular spaces offered convincing evidence of so-called "cruck" architecture, used in medieval England for construction of cottages and farm dwellings.

From Time Magazine Archive

If the Flowerdew remnants are in fact from a cruck building, they would be the first evidence that this construction technique was used by early Americans.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now, about the third construction type, the cruck.

From Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century by Forman, Henry Chandlee

The "cruck" church of 1607, the first substantial church, which, according to Smith, was covered by rushes, boards, and earth.

From Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century by Forman, Henry Chandlee

Like the palisade and puncheon methods, the cruck was medieval down to its very core.

From Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century by Forman, Henry Chandlee