deadman n.— Note: This term is covered in many mainstream dictionaries. «The church purchased an old school building, and member Gordon Ethridge moved it to the site on logs—with a little help from a “deadman,” Gatliff said...
steel monkey n.— «This is where not being a sissy comes in. Steel monkeys as they are affectionately called, have to walk the steel girders in order to put the steel beams in place. They walk the beams a hundred feet in the air. One false...
scraper n.— «Without those ongoing improvement costs, a house runs the risk of being what the building industry calls a “scraper.” That’s a house with so much deferred maintenance that it’s cheaper to scrape it off the...
soil nailing n.— «He estimated that roughly two-thirds of the steep walls required extra attention to shore them up, using an engineering technique called soil nailing.» —“Museum opening delayed to 2010″ by Tracie...
panelizing n.— «Volunteers gave up an entire weekend last April for the “blitz build.” The frame of the house, which was built last winter inside a large warehouse, was moved to the site for this event. Volunteers then put the walls and...
witness mark n. generally, an intentional, accidental, or naturally occurring spot, line, groove, or other contrasting area that serves as an indicator of certain facts; in geography and surveying, a blaze, cut, hole, paint splash, or message...