lumber

¹ American  

[luhm-ber] / ˈlʌm bər /

noun

1. timber sawed or split into planks, boards, etc.

2. miscellaneous useless articles that are stored away.

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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 American  

[luhm-ber] / ˈlʌm bər /

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.

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lumber ¹ British  

/ ˈlʌmbə /

noun

1. 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

2. 1. useless household articles that are stored away

   2. ( as modifier )

      lumber room

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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

lumber ² British  

/ ˈlʌmbə /

verb

1. to move awkwardly

2. an obsolete word for rumble

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Other Word Forms

• lumberer noun
• lumberless adjective
• lumberly adjective

Etymology

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”

Example Sentences

Dalton lumbers by carrying a box of guitar and microphone cords.

From Literature

Their squawking carried through Deadwood, across the busy road, and into the forest beyond, causing scampering critters and lumbering mammals to rise to their hind legs.

From Literature

Meantime, Indiana is trying to bait the Bears to lumber over the state border and set up a den in the city of Hammond.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then as I watched, a kind of odd, old farm wagon—old fashioned and out of place in the middle of a city—came lumbering across the square pulled by four enormous black horses.

From Literature

“You can take the lumber when you go back to pick up your sister at school,” he remarked.

From Literature

Related Words

• plod
• shuffle
• slog
• trudge
• trundle
• waddle