strut

¹ American  

[struht] / strʌt /

noun

1. any of various structural members, as in trusses, primarily intended to resist longitudinal compression.

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verb (used with object)

strutted, strutting

1. to brace or support by means of a strut or struts.

strut ² American  

[struht] / strʌt /

verb (used without object)

strutted, strutting

1. to walk with a vain, pompous bearing, as with head erect and chest thrown out, as if expecting to impress observers.

   Synonyms:

   flourish, parade

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noun

1. the act of strutting.

2. a strutting walk or gait.

idioms

1. strut one's stuff, to dress, behave, perform, etc., one's best in order to impress others; show off.

strut British  

/ strʌt /

verb

1. (intr) to walk in a pompous manner; swagger

2. (tr) to support or provide with struts

3. informal to behave or perform in a proud and confident manner; show off

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noun

1. a structural member used mainly in compression, esp as part of a framework

2. an affected, proud, or stiff walk

Related Words

Strut and swagger refer especially to carriage in walking. Strut implies swelling pride or pompousness; to strut is to walk with a stiff, pompous, seemingly affected or self-conscious gait: A turkey struts about the barnyard. Swagger implies a domineering, sometimes jaunty, superiority or challenge, and a self-important manner: to swagger down the street.

Other Word Forms

• strutter noun
• strutting adjective
• struttingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of strut¹

First recorded in 1565–75; obscurely akin to strut ¹

Origin of strut¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English strouten “to protrude stiffly, swell, bluster,” Old English strūtian “to struggle,” derivative of unattested strūt (whence Middle English strut “strife”)

Example Sentences

The composer struts in during a rehearsal, uncorks an embarrassingly stagey speech about his life and views, and forbids Guthrie from putting his modern spin on the oratorio.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then she slow-motion struts down an L.A. sidewalk in heels, barges into the meeting, props her bloody, bandaged foot on the table, and somehow still closes the deal with the celebrity stylist.

From Salon

But by the time Blanc struts in nearly 40 minutes into the film, we’ve forgotten we’ve been waiting for the franchise to resurrect its lead.

From Los Angeles Times

Miss Mexico was crowned Miss Universe in Thailand on Friday, strutting to victory after the beauty pageant's host had publicly chastised her, among several dramatic missteps in the run-up to the final stage.

From Barron's

The pair of chickens that pecked and strutted at the boys’ feet were also covered with the stuff.

From Literature

Related Words

• prance
• sashay
• stalk
• stride
• swagger