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A piece of any structure which is fitted or framed crosswise.

A kind of flag attached to a spear or pike by a crosspiece, and used by a chief as his standard in battle. Hang out our banners on the outward walls. Shak.

ination of horizontal beds, -- Cross bill. See in the Vocabulary. -- Cross bitt. Same as Crosspiece. -- Cross bond, a form of bricklaying, in which the joints of one stretcher course come midway between those of the stretcher courses above and below, a course of headers and stretchers intervening. See Bond, n., 8. -…

or end of a rod, etc., or a block attached to it and carrying a knuckle pin; as the solid crosspiece running between parallel slides, which receives motion from the piston of a steam engine and imparts it to the connecting rod, which is hinged to the crosshead.

A staff with a crosspiece at the head, to be placed under the arm or shoulder, to support the lame or infirm in walking. I'll lean upon one crutch, and fight with the other. Shak. Rhyme is a crutch that lifts the weak alone. H. Smith.

y fever. See Dengue. -- Dandy line, a kind of fishing line to which are attached several crosspieces of whalebone which carry a hook at each end. -- Dandy roller, a roller sieve used in machines for making paper, to press out water from the pulp, and set the paper.

The bar, or crosspiece, of a carriage, to which the singletrees are attached.

The crosspiece of a bayonet clutch.

A name popularly given to any flag which hangs from a crosspiece or frame instead of from the staff or the mast itself. Standards and gonfalons, 'twixt van and rear, Stream in the air. Milton.

A large wooden screw turning in a nut attached to the crosspiece of a rude press. -- Jack-in-office, an insolent fellow in authority. Wolcott. -- Jack-in-the-bush (Bot.), a tropical shrub with red fruit (Cordia Cylindrostachya). -- Jack-in-the-green, a chimney sweep inclosed in a framework of boughs, carried in Mayd…

onversion to Christianity. It is described as a pike bearing a silk banner hanging from a crosspiece, and surmounted by a golden crown. It bore a monogram of the first two letters (CHR) of the name of Christ in its Greek form. Later, the name was given to various modifications of this standard.

The crosspiece of a bridle bit, which enters the mouth of an animal.

llow lace, handmade lace wrought with bobbins upon a lace pillow. -- Pillow of a plow, a crosspiece of wood which serves to raise or lower the beam. -- Pillow sham, an ornamental covering laid over a pillow when not in use. -- Pillow slip, a pillowcase.

The step of a ladder; a rundle or rung; also, a crosspiece which joins and braces the legs of a chair. All the rounds like Jacob's ladder rise. Dryden.

A skeleton, or frame, having radiating arms or members, often connected by crosspieces; as, a casting forming the hub and spokes to which the rim of a fly wheel or large gear is bolted; the body of a piston head; a frame for strengthening a core or mold for a casting, etc. Spider ant. (Zoöl.) Same as Solitary ant, unde…

A narrow crosspiece of the bottom of a boat against which a rower braces his feet.

swing of his genius. Burke. Full swing. See under Full. -- Swing beam (Railway Mach.), a crosspiece sustaining the car body, and so suspended from the framing of a truck that it may have an independent lateral motion. -- Swing bridge, a form of drawbridge which swings horizontally, as on a vertical pivot. -- Swing p…

The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.

Two rods or plates connected by a toggle joint. Toggle iron, a harpoon with a pivoted crosspiece in a mortise near the point to prevent it from being drawn out when a whale, shark, or other animal, is harpooned. -- Toggle joint, an elbow or knee joint, consisting of two bars so connected that they may be brought quite…

A crosspiece upon the head of a boat's rudder. To its ends lines are attached which lead forward so that the boat can be steered from amidships.