shear-pole

Noun

shearpole (plural shearpoles)

1. A horizontal crosspiece.
   • He then excavated under the upper edge as much as possible, so that the escaping air passed through and loosened up the material on that side, wedged up and strained the pipe as before, and, with a battering-ram made of a 12-in. square oak timber, 12 ft. long, and in the middle suspended from...1873, The Practical Magazine, volume 1, page 396
   1. A horizontal beam that goes along the edge of the shroud to which the rigging is attached.
      • so careful were our officers to keep the rattlins taught and straight, that we were obliged to go aloft upon the ropes and shearpoles with which the rigging was swifted in; and these were used as jury rattlins until we got close upon the coast1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., “CHAPTER XXXV”, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC
   2. A horizontal support that pivots on an upright, allowing a bridge to swing to the side, thereby permitting boats to pass.
      • The last chapter consists of a glossary of 5,000 technical terms restricted to those used by workmen and others on bridge designing, construction and erection (not, however, including bobtail swing spans or shearpole draws); this covers 221 pages, and the book concludes with an index filling 61...1917, The Railway Gazette - Volume 26, page 626