timber Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the wood of trees cut and prepared for use as building material
    lumber.
  2. noun a beam made of wood
  3. noun a post made of wood
  4. noun land that is covered with trees and shrubs
    timberland; woodland; forest.
  5. noun (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)
    timbre; quality; tone.
    • the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely
    • the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet

WordNet

Tim"ber noun
Etymology
Probably the same word as timber sort of wood; cf. Sw. timber, LG. timmer, MHG. zimber, G. zimmer, F. timbre, LL. timbrium. Cf. Timmer.
Definitions
  1. (Com.) A certain quantity of fur skins, as of martens, ermines, sables, etc., packed between boards; being in some cases forty skins, in others one hundred and twenty; -- called also timmer. Written also timbre.
Tim"ber noun
Etymology
F. timbre. See Timbre.
Definitions
  1. (Her.) The crest on a coat of arms. Written also timbre.
Tim"ber transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To surmount as a timber does. Obs.
Tim"ber noun
Etymology
AS. timbor, timber, wood, building; akin to OFries. timber, D. timmer a room, G. zimmer, OHG. zimbar timber, a dwelling, room, Icel. timbr timber, Sw. timmer, Dan. tömmer, Goth. timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L. domus a house, Gr. house, to build, Skr. dama a house. *62. Cf. Dome, Domestic.
Definitions
  1. That sort of wood which is proper for buildings or for tools, utensils, furniture, carriages, fences, ships, and the like; -- usually said of felled trees, but sometimes of those standing. Cf. Lumber, 3.
    And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, . . . And fiddled in the timber! Tennyson.
  2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree.
  3. Fig.: Material for any structure.
    Such dispositions are the very errors of human nature; and yet they are the fittest timber to make politics of. Bacon.
  4. A single piece or squared stick of wood intended for building, or already framed; collectively, the larger pieces or sticks of wood, forming the framework of a house, ship, or other structure, in distinction from the covering or boarding.
    So they prepared timber . . . to build the house. 1 Kings v. 18.
    Many of the timbers were decayed. W. Coxe.
  5. Woods or forest; wooden land. Western U.S.
  6. (Shipbuilding) A rib, or a curving piece of wood, branching outward from the keel and bending upward in a vertical direction. One timber is composed of several pieces united.
Tim"ber transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Timbered ; present participle & verbal noun Timbering
Definitions
  1. To furnish with timber; -- chiefly used in the past participle.
    His bark is stoutly timbered. Shak.
Tim"ber intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To light on a tree. Obs.
  2. (Falconry) To make a nest.

Webster 1913