trestle

Everyday

1. A trestle is a frame with legs, often a beam on two pairs of sloping legs, used to hold up a table top or plank. tree →
2. A trestle table is a long table made of a board on trestles, easy to fold away. tree →
3. A trestle is also a framework of beams that holds up a railway bridge. tree →

In the lessons

At school fairs, harvest suppers and jumble sales, food is laid on trestle tables. In The Wind in the Willows, a feast is laid on trestle tables. In engineering, trestle bridges carry railways across valleys, especially in North America.

Examples

• We set out the cakes on trestle tables in the hall. tree →
• The painter stood on a plank between two trestles. tree →
• The old train crossed a wooden trestle bridge. tree →
• Fold the trestles away after the fair. tree →
• The banquet was laid on long trestle tables. tree →
• Dad built a workbench on two trestles. tree →

Note

Countable. Pronounced TRESS-ul (the t is silent).