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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

tim·ber       (tĭm'bər)  Pronunciation Key  n.   Trees or wooded land considered as a source of wood. Wood used as a building material; lumber. A dressed piece of wood, especially a beam in a structure. Nautical A rib in a ship's frame. A dressed piece of wood, especially a beam in a structure. Nautical A rib in a ship's frame. A person considered to have qualities suited for a particular activity: That trainee is executive timber. tr.v.   tim·bered, tim·ber·ing, tim·bers To support or frame with timbers: timber a mine shaft. [Middle English, from Old English, building, trees for building; see dem- in Indo-European roots.]

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timber 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

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

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Timber Lake, SD (city, FIPS 63620) Location: 45.42762 N, 101.07417 W
Population (1990): 517 (252 housing units)
Area: 1.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 57656

Timber Pines, FL (CDP, FIPS 71867) Location: 28.46986 N, 82.60327 W
Population (1990): 3182 (1895 housing units)
Area: 6.9 sq km (land), 0.2 sq km (water)

Timber, OR Zip code(s): 97144

Big Timber, MT (city, FIPS 6475) Location: 45.83410 N, 109.95061 W
Population (1990): 1557 (771 housing units)
Area: 2.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 59011

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Timber

Tim"ber\, n. [Probably the same word as timber sort of wood; cf. Sw. timber, LG. timmer, MHG. zimber, G. zimmer, F. timbre, LL. timbrium. Cf. Timmer.] (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.]

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Timber

Tim"ber\, n. [F. timbre. See Timbre.] (Her.) The crest on a coat of arms. [Written also timbre.]

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Timber

Tim"ber\, v. t. To surmount as a timber does. [Obs.]

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Timber

Tim"ber\, n. [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. t["o]mmer, Goth. timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L. domus a house, Gr. ? house, ? to build, Skr. dama a house. [root]62. Cf. Dome, Domestic.]

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.

Timber and room. (Shipbuilding) Same as Room and space. See under Room.

Timber beetle (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of beetles the larv[ae] of which bore in timber; as, the silky timber beetle (Lymexylon sericeum).

Timber doodle (Zo["o]l.), the American woodcock. [Local, U. S.]

Timber grouse (Zo["o]l.), any species of grouse that inhabits woods, as the ruffed grouse and spruce partridge; -- distinguished from prairie grouse.

Timber hitch (Naut.), 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. --Johnson.

Timber scribe, a metal tool or pointed instrument for marking timber. --Simmonds.

Timber sow. (Zo["o]l.) Same as Timber worm, below. --Bacon.

Timber tree, a tree suitable for timber.

Timber worm (Zo["o]l.), any larval insect which burrows in timber.

Timber yard, a yard or place where timber is deposited.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Timber

Tim"ber\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Timbered; p. pr. & vb. n. Timbering.] To furnish with timber; -- chiefly used in the past participle.

His bark is stoutly timbered. --Shak.

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Timber

Tim"ber\, v. i. 1. To light on a tree. [Obs.]

2. (Falconry) To make a nest.