The Collaborative International Dictionary
Joist \Joist\ (joist), n. [OE. giste, OF. giste, F. g[^i]te, fr. gesir to lie, F. g['e]sir. See Gist.] (Arch.) A piece of timber laid horizontally, or nearly so, to which the planks of the floor, or the laths or furring strips of a ceiling, are nailed; -- called, according to its position or use, binding joist, bridging joist, ceiling joist, trimming joist, etc. See Illust. of Double-framed floor, under Double, a.
Usage examples of "ceiling joist".
Each brick and slate, each shattered timber from the stairs and banisters, each tile and ceiling joist, was carefully plucked out, examined for whatever it might show, which was nothing, and tossed out into the roadway, where the nibble mounted higher and higher.
The rope around his neck and up to a cabin carling, the equivalent of a ceiling joist, had evidently been cut from a topsail halyard, because it was that size of line.