girder
Americannoun
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a large beam, as of steel, reinforced concrete, or timber, for supporting masonry, joists, purlins, etc.
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a principal beam of wood, steel, etc., supporting the ends of joists.
noun
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a large beam, esp one made of steel, used in the construction of bridges, buildings, etc
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botany the structure composed of tissue providing mechanical support for a stem or leaf
Other Word Forms
- girderless adjective
Etymology
Origin of girder
Explanation
A girder is any of the many beams used in buildings and bridges that provide support and actually hold them up. If you've ever seen a building going up, you know the first thing they do is put up a steel or wood skeleton that will eventually take the weight of the roof, the siding, the floors, and all the rooms inside. That skeleton is made of girders. Bridges also are made with girders, but they usually remain visible long after the steel beams in buildings have been covered by glass, brick, and wood.
Vocabulary lists containing girder
100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
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Bless Me, Ultima
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"The End and the Beginning," Vocabulary from the poem
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Spey Viaduct, an iron girder structure near Garmouth, was built in 1886 and while no longer used for trains, was popular with cyclists and walkers.
From BBC • Dec. 14, 2025
Drilling was also paused on Wednesday after the boring machine hit a metal girder, causing some damage to its blades and a six-hour delay as rescuers worked to clear the obstacle.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2023
The rise of white collar work in downtown L.A. — and the invention of elevators and steel girder construction — also contributed to skyline development at the turn of the century, Deverell said.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2022
They can also penetrate materials that x-rays cannot, enabling researchers to image the interiors of big objects such as a running engine or a steel girder.
From Science Magazine • Nov. 2, 2021
Frightful did not see the cherry picker until Flip’s head and arm came up over the horizontal girder.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
