Have you ever
found yourself
scratching your
head over some
obscure construction
term, such as
detrusion (the shearing
of wood fibers
along the grain)? If
so, you may be in
the market for
Means Illustrated
Construction Dictionary,
from the same
folks who turn out
estimating references
every year.
This compact volume
contains 9,000 up-to-date definitions,
including slang and colloquial
terms, plus 1,000 illustrations
to clarify the text.
You'll find plenty of familiar
terms, like on-center, softwood,
clerestory, and firewall. But if you
care to dabble, you'll also learn the
meaning of a horde of esoteric
words and phrases, such as cochlea
(a spiral staircase), coaming (a raised
curb around a
hatchway or skylight),
intrados (the
undersurface of an
arch), xyst (a promenade
shaded by
trees), and zeta (a
small closed room,
originally over the
porch of a church).
Not