timber
/ˈtɪmbə
/noun [mass noun]
1Wood prepared for use in building and carpentry: the exploitation of forests for timber [as modifier]: a small timber building...
- The rainforest is being cleared legally and illegally for timber, for pulp wood to make paper, and to make way for oil palm plantations.
- An abundance of coppice woods, known as spring woods, were required to provide charcoal, tan bark, fuel wood and timber.
- They cleared some of the natural broadleaf woodland to make way for sheep pastures; they also coppiced or managed other parts of the woodland for timber and firewood.
Synonyms
wood, logs, firewood;
planks, wood products;
forest, woodland, woods;
North American lumber
1.1Trees grown for use in building or carpentry: contracts to cut timber...
- Today, top grade oak timber is increasingly hard to find, with borer-perforated trees more suitable for paper or pulpwood.
- That's because until seedlings reach green-up, regulations keep adjacent cut blocks of marketable timber off limits to loggers.
- The cooperative has formed forest protection teams that have helped in the confiscation of illegally cut timber.
1.2 [count noun] (usually timbers) A wooden beam or board used in building a house or ship.The low, irregular ceiling is crisscrossed with beams made from ships' timbers and a log fire crackles merrily in the hearth....
- The house or building is reinforced with timbers supporting the floors inside.
- Cedar, fir, and pine were the preferred ship timbers of the ancient Mediterranean.
Synonyms
(wooden) beam, spar, pole, plank, batten, lath, board, joist, rafter
1.3 [as exclamation] Used to warn that a tree is about to fall after being cut: we cried ‘Timber!’ as our tree fell
2 [usually with adjective] US informal Personal qualities or character: she is frequently hailed as presidential timber...
- A woman just will not be accepted as presidential timber in the current macho-male-dominated political environment.
- I definitely think he is presidential timber.
- What is the real meaning of presidential timber?
Origin
Old English in the sense 'a building', also 'building material', of Germanic origin; related to German Zimmer 'room', from an Indo-European root meaning 'build'.
Timber originally meant a building as well as building material. Of Germanic origin, it is related to German Zimmer ‘room’, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘to build’.