trestle

UK: /ˈtrɛs^əl/ US: /ˈtrɛsəl/ ,(tres′əl)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

tres•tle /ˈtrɛsəl/   n. [countable]

1. Building a frame made of a crosspiece attached at each end to the top of a frame, used as a support for planking, etc.;
   a horse.
2. Building, Civil Engineering
   • Civil Engineering one of a number of such frames joined together to support a bridge.
   • a bridge made of these:
     The soldiers blew up the trestle just as the supply train was crossing it.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

tres•tle  (tres′əl), n. 

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. [Civ. Engin.]
   • one of a number of bents, having sloping sides of framework or piling, for supporting the deck or stringers of a bridge.
   • a bridge made of these.

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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

trestle / ˈtrɛs^əl/ 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. a braced structural tower-like framework of timber, metal, or reinforced concrete that is used to support a bridge or ropeway
3. a bridge constructed of such frameworks

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French trestel, ultimately from Latin trānstrum transom