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View synonyms for lumber

lumber

1

[ luhm-ber ]

noun

  1. timber sawed or split into planks, boards, etc.
  2. miscellaneous useless articles that are stored away.


verb (used without object)

  1. to cut timber and prepare it for market.
  2. to become useless or to be stored away as useless.

verb (used with object)

  1. to convert (a specified amount, area, etc.) into lumber:

    We lumbered more than a million acres last year.

  2. to heap together in disorder.
  3. to fill up or obstruct with miscellaneous useless articles; encumber.

lumber

2

[ luhm-ber ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to move clumsily or heavily, especially from great or ponderous bulk:

    overloaded wagons lumbering down the dirt road.

    Synonyms: plod, barge, trudge

  2. to make a rumbling noise.

lumber

1

/ ˈlʌmbə /

verb

  1. to move awkwardly
  2. See rumble
    an obsolete word for rumble


lumber

2

/ ˈlʌmbə /

noun

    1. logs; sawn timber
    2. cut timber, esp when sawn and dressed ready for use in joinery, carpentry, etc
    3. ( as modifier )

      the lumber trade

    1. useless household articles that are stored away
    2. ( as modifier )

      lumber room

verb

  1. tr to pile together in a disorderly manner
  2. tr to fill up or encumber with useless household articles
  3. to convert (the trees) of (a forest) into marketable timber
  4. informal.
    tr to burden with something unpleasant, tedious, etc
  5. tr to arrest; imprison

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Derived Forms

  • ˈlumberer, noun

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Other Words From

  • lumber·er noun
  • lumber·less adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of lumber1

First recorded in 1545–55; of uncertain origin; perhaps because the cut and trimmed timber was dried and seasoned in a lumber room ( def )

Origin of lumber2

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English lomeren; compare dialectal Swedish lomra “to resound, roar,” loma “to walk heavily”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of lumber1

C14 lomeren; perhaps related to lome lame 1, Swedish dialect loma to move ponderously

Origin of lumber2

C17: perhaps from a noun use of lumber ²

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Example Sentences

The NOPD fired Knight in 1973 for stealing lumber from a construction site as an off-duty cop.

The judges noted that he told one of the officers he had “copped some lumber.”

Our inner cities are stacks of dry leaves and lumber, waiting for a spark.

Today, ton-sized pieces of lumber lay rotting in the cool morning air.

But his 8-year-old company could choose from a handful of lumber kilns within hours of the city.

The road had been built for bringing down lumber, and for six miles it was at perilous angles.

Scattergood fairly licked his lips as he thought of the millions upon millions of feet of spruce to be sawed into lumber.

But they can't run the mill without the log yard and the yard to pile out their lumber.

Next opening the false back of the cupboard, he passed through to the lumber-room beyond, and partly closed the second door.

The Spaniard's boat was lashed so that no mortal could get her clear, and the little craft was used as a sort of lumber-closet.

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