Link Centre Dictionary

lumber

lum·ber

UK/ˈlʌm.bə/ US/ˈlʌm.bɚ/ fairly common slang us
noun (2) verb (2)

noun

1.

the wood of trees cut and prepared for use as building material

Synonyms
2.

an implement used in baseball by the batter

Synonyms

verb

1.

move heavily or clumsily

  • “The heavy man lumbered across the room”
Synonyms
2.

cut lumber, as in woods and forests

Synonyms

Origin

Exact origin unknown. The earliest recorded reference for the noun was to heavy, useless objects such as old, discarded furniture. Perhaps from the verb lumber in reference to meaning "awkward to move"; Online Etymological Dictionary thinks this may derive from the same root as lame. Possibly influenced by Lumbar, an obsolete variant of Lombard, the Italian immigrant class known for being pawnbrokers and money-lenders in early England. Compare English lumpish.

Phrases

  • bring the lumber
  • dimension lumber
  • dimensional lumber
  • lumber jacket
  • lumber pie
  • lumber room
  • lumber with
  • lumber yard

Related words

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.