Timber /(?)/

Tim·ber

Timber

n.
  1. 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. (Com.)

Timber

n.
  1. The crest on a coat of arms. (Her.)

Timber

v. t.
  1. To surmount as a timber does. [Obs.]

Timber

n.
  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!
  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.
  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. 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. (Shipbuilding)

Phrases & Compounds

Timber and room
Same as Room and space. See under Room.
Timber beetle
any one of numerous species of beetles the larvae of which bore in timber; as, the silky timber beetle (Lymexylon sericeum).
Timber doodle
the American woodcock.
Timber grouse
any species of grouse that inhabits woods, as the ruffed grouse and spruce partridge; -- distinguished from prairie grouse.
Timber hitch
a kind of hitch used for temporarily marking fast a rope to a spar. See Illust. under Hitch.
Timber mare
a kind of instrument upon which soldiers were formerly compelled to ride for punishment.
Timber scribe
a metal tool or pointed instrument for marking timber.
Timber sow
Same as Timber worm, below.
Timber tree
a tree suitable for timber.
Timber worm
any larval insect which burrows in timber.
Timber yard
a yard or place where timber is deposited.

Timber

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Timbered; p. pr. & vb. n. Timbering

  1. To furnish with timber; -- chiefly used in the past participle.
    His bark is stoutly timbered.

Timber

v. i.
  1. To light on a tree. [Obs.]
  2. To make a nest. (Falconry)