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timber

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. And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, . . . And fiddled in the timber! (Tennyson)

2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree.

3. 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.

6. 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. Timber and room.

Any larval insect which burrows in timber. Timber yard, a yard or place where timber is deposited.

Origin: 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. Tommer, Goth. Timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L. Domus a house, Gr. House, to build, Skr. Dama a house. 62. Cf. Dome, Domestic.

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.

Synonym: timmer.

Alternative forms: timbre.

Origin: Probably the same word as timber sort of wood; cf. Sw. Timber, LG. Timmer, MHG. Zimber, G. Zimmer, F. Timbre, LL. Timbrium. Cf. Timmer.

1. To light on a tree.

2. (Science: veterinary) To make a nest. Land that is covered with trees and shrubs.