Glossary
Ironworker Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential ironworker terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key ironworker vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in ironworker training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Bar joist
- A lightweight steel truss used for floors and roofs.
- Choker
- A sling wrapped around a load for lifting.
- Connector
- The ironworker who makes the first connection as steel is set.
- Controlled decking zone
- A limited area where trained workers place deck under specific rules.
- Erection drawings
- Plans that show where each steel piece goes.
- Hand signals
- Standard signals used to communicate with crane operators.
- High-strength bolts
- Structural bolts that must be tightened to specification.
- Metal deck
- Corrugated steel that forms floors and roofs.
- Moment connection
- A rigid connection that resists bending.
- Plumbing up
- Aligning columns to be perfectly vertical.
- Rigging
- Equipment and methods used to lift loads with a crane.
- Shear studs
- Studs welded to beams to bond with concrete slabs.
- Snug tight
- The tightness reached by a few impacts or full effort with a wrench.
- Spud wrench
- A wrench with a tapered handle used to align bolt holes.
- Tag line
- A rope used to control a load as it’s lifted.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Ironworker practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Ironworker training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.