Lumber

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: lÅ­mʹbÉ™ IPA: /ˈlÊŒm.bÉ™/
• US enPR: lÅ­mʹbÉ™r IPA: /ˈlÊŒm.bÉš/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒmbÉ™(r)

Origin

Unknown origin.

Full definition of lumber

Noun

1. (uncountable) Wood intended as a building material.
• 1782, H. de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American FarmerHere they live by fishing on the most plentiful coasts in the world; there they fell trees, by the sides of large rivers, for masts and lumber;
2. Useless things that are stored away
• 1711, Alexander Pope, An Essay on CriticismThe bookful blockhead ignorantly read,
  With loads of learned lumber in his head,...
3. A pawnbroker's shop, or room for storing articles put in pawn; hence, a pledge, or pawn.
• Lady MurrayThey put all the little plate they had in the lumber, which is pawning it, till the ships came.

Synonyms

• timber
• wood

Verb

1. (intransitive) to move clumsily
• 1816, Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary...he was only apprized of the arrival of the Monkbarns division by the gee-hupping of the postilion, as the post-chaise lumbered up behind him.
2. (transitive) to load down with things, to fill, to encumber
• 1822, Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the PeakThe mean utensils, pewter measures, empty cans and casks, with which this room was lumbered, proclaimed it that of the host, who slept surrounded by his professional implements of hospitality and stock-in-trade.
3. To heap together in disorder.
• Rymerstuff lumbered together
4. To fill or encumber with lumber.to lumber up a room

Related terms

• lumbering

Anagrams

• rumble
• umbrel