From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Rafter \Raft"er\ (r[.a]ft"[~e]r), noun A raftsman.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Rafter \Raft"er\, noun [AS. r[ae]fter; akin to E. raft, noun 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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Rafter \Raft"er\, verb (used with an object)
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) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof [syn: {balk}, {baulk}]
2: someone who travels by raft [syn: {raftsman}, {raftman}]
verb
1: provide (a ceiling) with rafters
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
38 Moby Thesaurus words for "rafter": H beam, I beam, angle rafter, balk, batten, boom, box girder, breastsummer, corbel, crossbeam, crosstie, footing beam, girder, hammer beam, hip rafter, joist, lattice girder, lintel, plate girder, ridge strut, ridgepole, sill, sleeper, sprit, stringpiece, strut, stud, studding, summer, summertree, tie, tie beam, transom, transverse, trave, traverse, truss, truss beam
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