Definition of "joist" [joist]

• Any of the wood, steel, or concrete beams set parallel from wall to wall or across or abutting girders to support a floor or ceiling. (noun)
• To construct with joists. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A few of the other most common defects that I find are missing nails in joist hangers (brackets that support the floor structure), missing flashing at the rim (metal that keeps water from leaking in to the house), and improper load transfers."
• "(I recommend digging a earth around where a joist is to be hammered in initial to loosen it) 11.)"
• "The saloon was made of sail cloth, not exactly in the form of a tent, for a slight frame was visible of a square order, and to the joist was the cloth tacked."