#structural support
- Alpenstock — A long, sturdy wooden staff equipped at the lower end with a sharp metallic spike (ferrule), used in the past by mountaineers and hikers as an essential structural support during ascents on steep slopes, glaciers, or rugged terrains. In modern mountain equipment, this traditional tool has been gradually replaced by ice axes and telescopic trekking poles.
- Tribrach — A mechanical leveling and centering base fitted with footscrews, used in surveying and geodesy as a structural support to mount optical instruments onto a tripod. It ensures horizontal structural stability and allows micro-alignment over a point.
- Arches — The plural form of the neuter noun 'arc'; curved structural or decorative elements supported by two endpoints, used in architecture to span a space or support a vault or wall. In geometry, it represents continuous portions of curved lines, especially of circles, bounded by two distinct points. In music and engineering, it refers to springs acting as elastic mechanisms or bows used for stringed instruments.