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 /

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

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

/ ˈlʌmbə /

verb

1. to move awkwardly

2. an obsolete word for rumble

Other Word Forms

• lumberer noun
• lumberless adjective
• lumberly adjective

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of lumber¹

C17: perhaps from a noun use of _lumber ²

Origin of lumber²

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

Example Sentences

If Europe can’t concentrate spending, its startups will struggle to grow or shake up the continent’s lumbering military sector as U.S. startups are doing in Washington, say investors and founders.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Separately, he has imposed levies on Canadian automobiles, steel, aluminum and lumber products as part of global tariff actions meant to bolster U.S. national security.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Going up in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, where poverty was widespread, he played with bats his father Liban, a carpenter, fashioned from scrap lumber.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Some economists say the furniture and lumber tariffs, on their own, are unlikely to spell disaster for builders and single-handedly tank the home building market.

Read more on BBC

Some lumber and furniture tariffs took effect this week.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

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