girder
UK /ˈɡɜːdə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈɡɝdɚ/ noun
Forms girders
- noun A beam of steel, wood, or reinforced concrete, used as a main horizontal support in a building or structure.
- noun One who girds; a satirist.
Etymology
From Gird to sneer at.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who girds; a satirist.
- noun One who, or that which, girds.
- noun A main beam; a stright, horizontal beam to span an opening or carry weight, such as ends of floor beams, etc.; hence, a framed or built-up member discharging the same office, technically called a compound girder. See Illusts. of Frame, and Doubleframed floor, under Double. Bowstring girder, Box girder, etc. See under Bowstring, Box, etc. -- Girder bridge. See under Bridge.
Etymology [From Gird to encircle.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “girder”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details