trestle

American  

[tres-uhl] / ˈtrɛs əl /

noun

1. a frame typically composed of a horizontal bar or beam rigidly joined or fitted at each end to the top of a transverse A-frame, used as a barrier, a transverse support for planking, etc.; horse.

2. Civil Engineering.

   1. one of a number of bents, having sloping sides of framework or piling, for supporting the deck or stringers of a bridge.

   2. a bridge made of these.

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trestle British  

/ ˈtrɛsəl /

noun

1. a framework in the form of a horizontal member supported at each end by a pair of splayed legs, used to carry scaffold boards, a table top, etc

2. 1. a braced structural tower-like framework of timber, metal, or reinforced concrete that is used to support a bridge or ropeway

   2. a bridge constructed of such frameworks

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Etymology

Origin of trestle

1300–50; Middle English trestel < Middle French, by dissimilation from Old French trestre ≪ Latin trānstrum crossbeam

Example Sentences

Behind the railroad trestle, the water spread even more, the rushing flood “snapping off trees like they were matchsticks … The earth shook, the snapping grew loud, and the air stank of trees.”

From Literature

Before we went home, we watched for a while as the workmen started to take apart the railroad trestle.

From Literature

The railroad crosses sensitive marine ecosystems using a swing bridge over the Swinomish Channel and a trestle across Padilla Bay within the reservation.

From Seattle Times

"It was waiter service when it first started and everyone came and sat at long trestle tables and they were served their pie and It took time when it was busy," Linda says.

From BBC

The railroad easement crosses sensitive marine ecosystems over a swing bridge at the Swinomish Channel and a trestle across Padilla Bay within the reservation.

From Seattle Times