lumbering

[luhm-ber-ing]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lumbering ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the trade or business of cutting and preparing lumber.

Origin of lumbering

First recorded in 1765–75; lumber¹ + -ing¹

Related formsun·lum·ber·ing, adjective

lumber

[luhm-ber]

noun

timber sawed or split into planks, boards, etc.

miscellaneous useless articles that are stored away.

verb (used without object)

to cut timber and prepare it for market.

to become useless or to be stored away as useless.

verb (used with object)

to convert (a specified amount, area, etc.) into lumber: We lumbered more than a million acres last year.

to heap together in disorder.

to fill up or obstruct with miscellaneous useless articles; encumber.

Origin of lumber

1545–55; orig. noun use of lumber²; i.e., useless goods that weigh one down, impede one's movements

Related formslum·ber·er, nounlum·ber·less, adjective

lumber

[luhm-ber]

verb (used without object)

to move clumsily or heavily, especially from great or ponderous bulk: overloaded wagons lumbering down the dirt road.

to make a rumbling noise.

Origin of lumber

1300–50; Middle English lomeren; compare dialectal Swedish lomra to resound, loma to walk heavily

Related formslum·ber·ly, adjective

Synonyms for lumber

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lumber ON THESAURUS.COM

1. trudge, barge, plod.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lumbering

hulking, unwieldy, ungainly, heavy, halting, bumbling, bovine, overgrown, splay, blundering, elephantine, gauche, gawky, inept, lumpish, maladroit, ponderous, wooden, klutzy

Examples from the Web for lumbering

Contemporary Examples of lumbering

But his lumbering lurch toward the Ted Cruz tin-foil-hat convention should instead be an object lesson for Republicans to come.
Will the GOP Get the Message in Kansas?
Ana Marie Cox
October 24, 2014
For now, Carlisle says the best way to keep rhinos alive is by moving them, one lumbering gray creature at a time.
South Africa’s Great Rhino Airlift
Nina Strochlic
August 17, 2014
Today, however, that same, lumbering Julio Cesar kept Brazil in the World Cup.
World Cup 2014 Nail-Biter: Host Country Brazil Defeats Chile on Penalty Kicks
Tunku Varadarajan
June 28, 2014
Pop, pop, pop, Ali—then Cassius Clay—surrounded the lumbering Scandinavian with zinging leather.
The Stacks: Harold Conrad Was Many Things, But He Was Never, Ever Dull
Mark Jacobson
March 8, 2014
This was about the time a Texas lumbering company was becoming a major stockholder in Time Inc.
‘The Land of the Permanent Wave’ Is Bud Shrake’s Classic Take on ‘60s Texas
Edwin Shrake
February 2, 2014

Historical Examples of lumbering

At the end he nodded, and, with a lumbering movement, altered his position in his chair.
The Market-Place
Harold Frederic
His instinct was to "charge" and he made one lumbering plunge.
Two Arrows
William O. Stoddard
Their lumbering craft is the first to touch the side of the Teutonic.
The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol 2 (of 2)
Harry Furniss
The heavy, lumbering steps of a policeman at last broke her reverie.
Scottish Ghost Stories
Elliott O'Donnell
He shouted to the postilion, and the huge, lumbering vehicle was set in motion.
Scottish Ghost Stories
Elliott O'Donnell

British Dictionary definitions for lumbering

lumbering

noun

mainly US and Canadian the business or trade of cutting, transporting, preparing, or selling timber

lumbering

adjective

awkward in movement

moving with a rumbling sound

Derived Formslumberingly, adverblumberingness, noun

lumber

noun

mainly US and Canadian

logs; sawn timber
cut timber, esp when sawn and dressed ready for use in joinery, carpentry, etc
(as modifier)the lumber trade

British

useless household articles that are stored away
(as modifier)lumber room

verb

(tr) to pile together in a disorderly manner

(tr) to fill up or encumber with useless household articles

mainly US and Canadian to convert (the trees) of (a forest) into marketable timber

(tr) British informal to burden with something unpleasant, tedious, etc

(tr) Australian to arrest; imprison

Derived Formslumberer, noun

Word Origin for lumber

C17: perhaps from a noun use of lumber ²

lumber

verb (intr)

to move awkwardly

an obsolete word for rumble

Word Origin for lumber

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lumbering

lumber

"timber sawn into rough planks," 1660s, American English (Massachusetts), earlier "disused bit of furniture; heavy, useless objects" (1550s), probably from lumber (v.), perhaps influenced by Lombard, from the Italian immigrants famous as pawnbrokers and money-lenders in England (see Lombard). Lumbar, Lumbard were old alternative forms of Lombard in English. The evolution of sense then would be because a lumber-house ("pawn shop") naturally accumulates odds and ends of furniture.

Live Lumber; soldiers or passengers on board a ship are so called by the sailors.

LUMBER HOUSE. A house appropriated by thieves for the reception of their stolen property. ["Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence," London, 1811]

lumber

"to move clumsily," c.1300, lomere, probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Swedish loma "move slowly, walk heavily," Old Norse lami "lame"), ultimately cognate with lame (adj.). Related: Lumbered; lumbering.