▪ I. strut, n.1
(strʌt)
Forms: 3–4 strutt, 4 strot, 4, 9 dial. strout, 3–4, 7– strut. See also sturt n. and a-strut.
[The form strout prob. represents an OE. *str{uacu}t = OHG., MHG. strûȥ masc., combat, strife (MHG. also strûȥe fem.; mod.G. dial. strauss):—OTeut. type *strūto-z, f. root *strū̆t-, perh. orig. meaning to stand out, project, protrude; cf. ON. str{uacu}t-r conical headdress, Norw. strut spout, snout, Da. strud end of a sausage, etc., Sw. strut cornet of paper. The forms strut)t and perh. strot appear to represent a different formation (from the weak grade of the root); see strut v.1, and cf. Norw. strutt obstinate resistance.]
1. Strife, contention; a quarrel, wrangle, contest. Obs. exc. dial.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3461 Þair strut it was vn-stern stith. Ibid. 27617 O pride bicums vnbuxumnes, strif, and strutt, and frawardnes. c 1300 Havelok 1039 And he maden mikel strout Abouten þe alþerbeste but. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 848 Among vus commez non oþer strot ne stryf. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. i. 6 Could there be a strut, or fewd betwixt the two Apostles? a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Strout, a struggle; bustle; quarrel. |
† 2. Display, flaunting in fine attire. Obs.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3347 But wlde þey þenke þat make swyche strut, yn what robe, yn erþe, þey shul be put. |
▪ II. strut, n.2
(strʌt)
Also 7–9 strutt.
[Proximate origin obscure; from the root of strut n.1, v.1 Cf. LG. strutt, rigid.]
1. A bar, rod, or built-up member, of wood, iron, etc., designed to resist pressure or thrust in a framework; e.g. a diagonal timber which acts as a brace to support a principal rafter.
| 1587 L. Mascall Bk. Cattle ii. (1596) 120 Preparing the cart... See the rath staues and struts be whole and sound. 1668 Leybourn Platf. Purchasers 132, K King-piece or Joggle⁓piece. L Strutts. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 450/1 Struts, or Bunspars, pieces that go from either side the Kings piece to the Rafter of the Gable end to support them. 1755 Hales Distillation in Phil. Trans. XLIX. 314 Three or four small struts may be fixed to the sides of the air-box. 1845 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. VIII. 213/1 Mr. Adie introduced a series of arches or struts, traversing the railway at intervals of 15 feet from centre to centre. These struts consisted of two arches of rubble and rough ashlar masonry, placed back to back. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Strut, a pole or stick, with a spike at the end, to be let down from the shaft of a cart, to keep the weight off the horse's back when standing still with a heavy load. 1859 Newton's Lond. Jrnl. Arts 1 Feb. 114 A short iron strut or link is jointed to the thin end of each tongue-rail and to the end chair. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 107/2 Beyond that opening, how⁓ever, bridges are usually sustained by struts or tension-rods. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 819/2 The beam is required to act as a shore or strut, to prevent the sides of the ship from collapsing, and also as a tie to prevent their falling apart. |
b. attrib., as strut-brace, † strut-stower; strut-beam = strutting-beam (see strutting vbl. n.2 c).
| 1668 Leybourn Platf. Purchasers 132 Of the Roof... Coller-beam, Strutt-beam, Window-beam, or Top-beam. 17.. in F. Peck Mem. O. Cromwell etc. ii. (1740) 58 [Alleged covenant of a.d. 1159] He shall deliver to you..ten stakes, eleven strut stowers & eleven yeathers, to be cut by you. 1869 Rankine Machine & Hand-tools App. 26 The most efficient position for those ribs would be diagonal, like that of the strut-braces in a skeleton beam. |
¶ 2. The alleged sense in quot. 1865 and subsequent Dicts. ‘An implement of bone or wood formerly used to shape the folds of ruffs’ is founded on quot. 1575, where stroout appears to be for strouted pa. pple. of strout, strut v.1 (sense 2 c).
| 1575 Laneham Let. 47 Hiz shyrt..with rufs fayr starched,..marshalld in good order: with a setting stik, & stroout y{supt} euery ruf stood vp like a wafer. 1865 F. B. Palliser Hist. Lace xxiii. 286 The tools used in starching and fluting ruffs were called setting-sticks, struts, and poking-sticks; the two first were made of wood or bone. |
▪ III. strut, n.3
(strʌt)
Also 7 strout.
[f. strut v.1]
a. A manner of walking with stiff steps and head erect, affecting dignity or superiority; a stiff, self-important gait.
| 1607 G. Wilkins Mis. Enf. Marr. iv. G 2, Curle vp your haire, walke with the best strouts you can. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 335 ¶2 Upon the entring of Pyrrhus, the Knight told me, that he did not believe the King of France himself had a better Strut. 1768 H. Walpole Let. to Earl Strafford 16 Aug., He has the sublime strut of his grandfather, or of a cock-sparrow. 1784 Cowper Task v. 74 The cock foregoes His wonted strut. 1847 De Quincey Sp. Mil. Nun xii. Wks. 1853 III. 32 Mr. Urquiza entered first, with a strut more than usually grandiose. |
b. fig.
| c 1800 A. Hamilton in F. S. Oliver Life (1906) 198 Real firmness is good for anything; strut is good for nothing. 1861 Pearson Early & Mid. Ages Eng. xxvii. 330 A little more strut and bluster are required for the heroes who tread the stage of the world. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. vi. 167 That strut and crow of conscious superiority which is..so common among his class. |
c. A type of slow and complicated dance or dance-step.
| [1917: see shimmy n.2 1]. 1937 [see Big Apple s.v. big a. B. 2]. 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 111 Strut.., a fancy-step slow dance. 1979 R. Gillespie Crossword Mystery i. 17 He..executed a few soft-shoe steps which merged into a strut. |
▪ IV. strut, n.4
(strʌt)
[f. strut v.2]
The act of strutting; deflexion (of the spoke of a wheel) from the perpendicular.
| 1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 311/1 There is little strut, so that the lowest spoke is nearly vertical, and the tire forms a frustum of a cone, instead of being a cylinder. |
▪ V. † strut, a. Obs.
In 8 Sc. strute.
[Connected with strut v.1; perh. orig. the pa. pple.]
So full as to be swollen or distended. Also Sc., intoxicated, ‘fou’. Also in comb. strut-bellied adj.
| 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades iii. iii. (1592) 313 The state of famished Lazarus..was farre better than the surfetting of the strut-bellied glutton. 1601 Holland Pliny xi. xli. I. 348 Many [women] are so frim and free of milke, that all their breasts are strut and full thereof, even as farre as to their arme-holes. 1609 ― Amm. Marcell. 213 When hee beginneth now to returne with his bellie strut and full. 1715 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. ii. xvii, When he was strute, twa sturdy chiels..Held up..The liquid logic scholar. 1724 ― Wyfe of Auchtermuchty xiv, The deil cut aff their hands.., That cramd your kytes sae strute yestrein. |
▪ VI. strut, v.1
(strʌt)
Inflected strutted, strutting. Forms: α. 1 str{uacu}tian, 3–7 stroute, 4–7 strowte, 6–7 strowt, stroot(e, 6–9 strout. β. 3–5 strut(e, 6 strutte, 7 strutt, 6– strut.
[The α forms represent OE. str{uacu}tian, prob. f. *str{uacu}t strut n.1; corresponding formations are mod.G. dial. straussen to wrangle, Da. strude to strut; also (with difference of conjugation), MHG. striuȥen wk. v. to contend, struggle (mod.G. dial. sträussen). The β forms, though they may partly have arisen from contracted pa. pple. forms with shortened vowel, appear also to represent a distinct formation (not recorded in OE.) from the weak grade of the root, corresponding to MHG., mod.G. strotzen to swell out, bulge, Sw. strutta to hop, strut, Da. strutte to strut, Norw. strutta to offer obstinate resistance, strotta to sulk. Although the α and β types partly represent different formations, both are found in each of the senses; they are therefore here treated as variants of the same word.]
† 1. intr. (Meaning somewhat uncertain.) ? To make a show of working; ? to struggle, make efforts. OE. rare—1.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xxxii. 208 Swa þæt se halᵹa wer [sc. the enshrined St. Eadmund] hi [sc. a band of robbers] wundorlice ᵹeband, ælcne swa he stod strutiᵹende mid tole [orig. sanctus martyr eos ligat in ipso conamine], þæt heora nan ne mihte þæt morð ᵹefremman, ne hi þanon astyrian. |
† 2. a. To bulge, swell; to protrude on account of being full or swollen. Often with out. Obs.
| α a 1300 Rel. Ant. II. 15 Ne be þi winpil neuere..so stroutende. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxix. (Tollem. MS.) And ofte he bloweþ outt his wombe and makeþ it stroute. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 480/2 Strowtyn, or bocyn owte, turgeo. c 1611 Chapman Iliad i. 464 The Misens strooted with the gale. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xiii. 402 The daintie Clouer..That makes each Vdder strout abundantly with milke. 1668 Culpeper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xx. 51 Somtimes being full, it [the Bladder] does so strout in the belly, that it may be felt by the hand. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Strout, to protrude, to swell. |
| β 1606 Dekker News fr. Hell Wks. (Grosart) II. 124 Hauing..cheeks strutting out (like two footebals). 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 373 Being for the nonce full of wine, till his skin strutted againe. 1678 A. Behn Sir P. Fancy ii. ii. 28 Lord how he's swoln? see how his Stomach struts? 1771 J. Adams Diary 5 June, Wks. 1850 II. 268 The cow, whose teats strut with milk, is unmilked till nine o'clock. |
† b. transf. To be stuffed or filled with. Obs.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xxi. 540 When Troy, and all her towres, Strooted with fillers. a 1624 Bp. M. Smith Serm. (1632) 221 If the Exchequer doe stroute, and be stuft with siluer and gold. |
† c. trans. To distend, cause to swell or bulge, make protuberant; to puff out. Also, to stuff or cram (with). Obs.
| 1540 Palsgr. Acolastus ii. iv. M iv, That scrippe or bagge..whiche is now..stroutted out with moche money. 1575 Banister Chyrurg. i. (1585) 17 When the veines are strowted out by the effusion of humor. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ix. iii. 700 Knitting their furrowed browes, and strouting out their goggle eyes to watch their treasure. 1648 Herrick Hesp., Paranæt. to M. J. Wicks 21 And let Thy servant, not thy own self, sweat, To strut thy barnes with sheafs of Wheat. 1675 J. Smith Chr. Relig. Appeal iv. 84, I have seen children, when they are strutted with the Milk, Play with the Breast. c 1730 Ramsay Boy & Pig 9 The strait neck o't [sc. the pot] wadna suffer The hand..Sae struted, to return again. 1740 in Mrs. Delany Autobiog. & Corr. (1861) II. 72 His lady looked like a frightened owl, her locks strutted out and most furiously greased. |
| fig. c 1624 Bacon Consid. War with Spain (1629) 33, I will make a briefe List of the Particulars themselues, in an Historical Truth, no wayes strowted, nor made greater by Language. |
† 3. intr. To contend, strive, quarrel, bluster. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 829 Al bigan to strut and strijf [G. All bigan stour and strijf] Agains adam and his wijf. c 1300 Havelok 1779 Hwat are ye, þat are þer-oute, þat þus biginnen forto stroute? c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 233 Who so struted oȝainward, Anon þai ȝauen hem dintes hard. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 189 This makyth men mysdo more þan ouȝte ellis, And to stroute and to stare and stryue aȝeyn vertu. c 1400 Beryn 1840 What evir þow speke, or stroute, certis it wol nat be. |
† 4. a. To protrude stiffly from a surface or body; to stand out, jut forth. Also, to stick up. Obs.
| α c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 129 Crul was his heer, and as the gold it shoon, And strouted as a Fanne, large and brode. 1566 W. Adlington Apuleius xi. xlviii. 124, I carried..a garlande of flowres upon my head, with palme leaves stroutinge out on every side. 1600 Fairfax Tasso ix. viii, Mustachoes strouting long. |
| β 1676 T. Glover Acc. Virginia in Phil. Trans. XI. 635 Till such time as the leaves, that stood strutting out, fall down to the stalk. 1703 W. Dampier Voy. III. i. 24 They [guinea fowl] have a small red Gill on each side of their Heads, like Ears, strutting out downwards. 1705 tr. Bosman's Guinea 264 They are called Crown-Birds, from the great yellowish Tuft or Crown intermixed with speckled Feathers, strutting like Hogs Bristles. 1772 Foote Nabob ii. Wks. 1799 II. 302 A tulip strutting up like a magistrate's mace. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. ii. iv. (1849) 108 By the foot of a promontory, which strutted forth boldly into the waves. |
† b. trans. To protrude, thrust forth, stick out, stretch out (an organ, part, growth). Obs.
| 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. lxxii. 444 If wee will not bowe downe our neckes but strout them out as harde as if they were steele or brasse. 1599 Breton Will of Wit etc. (Grosart) 57/2 If she stretch out a fine hande, hee strouteth out a straight legge. 1681 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 41 Wild-Boars strouting out their bristles. |
† 5. a. intr. To behave proudly or vaingloriously; to flaunt, triumph, swagger. Often to strut it; also to strut it out. Also, to glory, exult upon, over (a possession). Obs. (exc. as in 7 c).
| α c 1570 Buggbears i. iii. 47 Thou woldst have me..hack & hew my clothes, & go stroot it like a tossepotte. 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 36 Desirous to strowt it with the beste, yet disdayning too liue by the sweate of their browes. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Paladin, He swaggers, brags, or strouts it mightily. a 1643 J. Shute Judgem. & Mercy (1645) 90 Nebuchadnezar..when he was strouting upon his Babell, and bragged of his power. |
| β 1611 Cotgr., Piaffer,..to boast, or strut it vainely. 1675 T. Brooks Golden Key 220 Those proud enemies of Christ, who now..strut it out against him. 1684 T. Burnet Theory Earth i. 297 He will many times strut and triumph, as if he had wrested the thunder out of Jove's right hand. 1754 Richardson Grandison IV. 61 The one strutting over the beauties, in order to enhance the value of the present; the other, courtesying ten times in a minute, to shew her gratitude. |
† b. refl. in the same sense as prec. (Cf. boast, vaunt oneself.) Obs.
| 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. i. verse 13. vii. (1656) 364 Nebuchadnezzar strutting himself in his Palace with this bravado in his mouth, Is not this great Babylon that I have built? a 1716 South Serm. (1727) IV. 84 See Nebuchadnezzar also strutting himself upon the Survey of that Mass of Riches. |
† 6. a. intr. To raise oneself to one's full height; to thrust up one's head and stand erect; to perk up. Also fig. Obs.
| 1607 Chapman Bussy d'Ambois i. i. 7 Vnskilfull statuaries, who suppose (In forging a Colossus) if they make him Stroddle enough, stroote, and looke big, and gape, Their worke is goodly. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. v. 288 And there⁓withall he [a mountain] struts, as though he scorn'd to show His head belowe the Heauen. 1614 Gorges Lucan iii. 117 Then Lygdanus by chance did eye, Tyrrhenus mounted loftily, Strowting vpon a Gallion's puppe [L. Stantem sublimi Tyrrhenum culmine proræ]. 1662 Greenhalgh in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. IV. 19 At which they shewed great rejoicing, by strutting up, so that some of their veils flew about like morris dancers. 1791 Boswell Johnson (1904) I. 32 Johnson did not strut or stand on tiptoe: He only did not stoop. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. i. 352 Taurus would shrink, Hemodia strut no more. |
† b. refl. ? To stand erect, with feet firmly fixed on the ground. Obs.
| 1581 Mulcaster Positions viii. (1887) 51 Would any man beleue it,..that one Milo so strutted himselfe, so pitcht his feet, so peysed his bodie, as he remained vnremoueable from his place, being haled at..by a number of people. |
† c. intr. Of the legs: To be firmly fixed or planted on the ground. Obs.
| 1681 Dryden Span. Friar iii. 32 What are become of those two Timber-loggs that he us'd to wear for Leggs, that stood strutting like the two black Posts before a door? |
7. a. To walk with an affected air of dignity or importance, stepping stiffly with head erect. Also with it, and with adv., as about, off. (The current sense.)
| α 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. K i, He ietteth strouting, dancing on hys toes with his hands vnder his sides. a 1624 Bp. M. Smith Serm. (1632) 170 They that carry their noses high into the wind,..and stroute in their gate, as though they went vpon stilts. 1640 C. Harvey Synagogue, Engines vii. (1647) 31 Nor that, which giant-like before did strout, Be able with a pigmeys pace t'hold out. |
| β 1518 Galway Corporation Bk. in O'Flaherty West Connaught (Irish Archæol. Soc. 1846) 35 note, That neither One Mac shall strutte ne swaggere thro' the streets of Gallway. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. iv. 31 Do's he not hold vp his head (as it were?) and strut in his gate? 1638 W. Lisle Heliodorus x. 180 Full soone came in the gyant æthiops, On tip-toe strutting. 1693 T. Power in Dryden's Juvenal xii. 159 Pacuvius struts it, and triumphant goes In the dejected Crowd of Rival Foes. 1733 Pope Ep. Cobham 153 Tom struts a Soldier, open, bold, and brave. 1849 D. G. Mitchell Battle Summer (1852) 242 Stiff little Republicans strut about as if in togas. 1887 Besant The World went ii, He strutted proudly across the grass, regardless of his rags. |
b. of a peacock or other fowl.
| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iv. 199 A Peacock, prickt with love's desire, To woo his Mistress, strouting stately by her. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 52 While the Cock..Stoutly struts his Dames before. 1795 Cowper Pairing Time 39 Dick Redcap..strutting and sideling. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xv, Plump pigeons skimming round the roof or strutting on the eaves. 1847 Longfellow Ev. i. i, And there, in his feathered seraglio, Strutted the lordly turkey. |
c. fig.
| 1774 Burke Amer. Tax. Sel. Wks. I. 103 In order meanly to sneak out of difficulties, into which they had proudly strutted. 1814 Wordsw. Excurs. iii. 900 Big passions strutting on a petty stage. 1850 Hawthorne Scarlet L. Introd. (1879) 24 His voice and laugh..came strutting out of his lungs, like the crow of a cock. |
d. quasi-trans. with cognate or adverbial object.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. v. 25 A poore Player, That struts and frets his houre vpon the Stage. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xv. xi, He..then strutted some turns about his room. 1824 Medwin Convers. Byron I. 122 Think how he would mouth such and such a sentence,..strut such and such a scene. |
e. trans. To walk upon or over (a floor, space) with a strut.
| 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xiv. i, Hence those strange monsters in lace and embroidery,..which, under the name of lords and ladies, strut the stage. 1810 Splendid Follies I. 170 No eastern princess, strutting the boards of a puppet-show, ever exhibited [etc.]. |
f. to strut one's stuff: to display one's ability. U.S. slang.
| 1926 C. Van Vechten Nigger Heaven ii. vi. 242 Some one cried, Strut your stuff, Lasca! 1935 [see roller n.1 18 d]. 1941 Sun (Baltimore) 30 Aug. 13/1 Rain today made the prospect for off-going for the first card, thus giving the ‘mudders’ an opportunity to strut their stuff. 1972 N.Y. Times 3 Nov. 28/1 The company is going to strut its stuff, with nothing more in mind than to entertain, in Washington Square, near the Arch. There will be singing and dancing and acting and acrobatics. 1977 Rolling Stone 30 June 121/1 (Advt.), Each run is equipped with a super, custom-designed sound system, so you can ‘strut your stuff’ or ‘space walk’ to your favorite tunes. |
g. intr. To dance the strut. Cf. strut n.2 c.
| 1975 Time Out 8 Aug. 67/1 D'you wanna shake, strut, shimmy, jive, twist, waltz, mash potato, tango, tap or conga? |
Hence † ˈstrutted ppl. a., distended, full-stored. (Cf. strut a.)
| 1648 Earl Westmorland Otia Sacra (1879) 33 Are not my strutted Vessels full of Wine? |
▪ VII. strut, v.2
(strʌt)
Also 9 strutt.
[f. strut n.2]
1. trans. To brace or support by a strut or struts; to hold in place or strengthen by an upright, diagonal, or transverse support. Also with advs.
| 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Strut, to brace, a term used in carpentry. 1838 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 374/2 If the resistance piles are sufficiently braced and strutted not to yield by the driving of the wedges. 1845 Civil Engin. & Archit. Jrnl. VIII. 212/1 The toes of the walls will require to be strutted apart. 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. i. 12 A ship rolling about with a heavy cargo will alter her form, as regards its transverse section, very much, if she is built of iron, and is not sufficiently strutted and tied with beams. a 1878 Sir G. Scott Lect. Archit. (1879) II. 225 In Henry VII's Chapel these great arches are visible only in the side vaults, which are strutted up from them with strong tracery. 1897 Pall Mall Mag. June 254 The old boat was no more than waterproof, and..Severn had to run a new stringer round her, to strut out the ribs. 1912 C. H. Power Eng. Mediæv. Arch. II. 340 Flying Buttress to strut the Vault. |
| fig. 1832 Examiner 161/1 Employing, to boot, all tricky expedients to strutt up the tottering system. |
2. intr. To be fixed diagonally or slantwise; to be bent so as to form a sharp turn or angle.
| 1841 W. Templeton Locomot. Eng. 30 The best form of wrought iron wheels, is round arms strutting from the rim to the nave in a zig-zag form. 1853 Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges 291 Braces, strutting considerably, were driven down as far as possible into the bottom of the river, at each end of the trestles. |