Hypertext Webster Gateway: "rafter"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Rafter \Raft"er\, n.
A raftsman.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Rafter \Raft"er\, n. [AS. r[ae]fter; akin to E. raft, n. See
{Raft}.] (Arch.)
Originally, any rough and somewhat heavy piece of timber.
Now, commonly, one of the timbers of a roof which are put on
sloping, according to the inclination of the roof. See
Illust. of {Queen-post}.
[Courtesy] oft is sooner found in lowly sheds, With
smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls. --Milton.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Rafter \Raft"er\, v. t.
1. To make into rafters, as timber.
2. To furnish with rafters, as a house.
3. (Agric.) To plow so as to turn the grass side of each
furrow upon an unplowed ridge; to ridge. [Eng.]
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
rafter
n 1: one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
[syn: {balk}, {baulk}]
2: someone who travels by raft [syn: {raftsman}, {raftman}]
v : provide with rafters, as of ceilings
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