Timber hitch

Timber Tim"ber, n. [AS. timbor, timber, wood, building; akin to OFries. timber, D. timmer a room, G. zimmer, OHG. zimbar timber, a dwelling, room, Icel. timbr timber, Sw. timmer, Dan. t["o]mmer, Goth. timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L. domus a house, Gr. ? house, ? to build, Skr. dama a house. [root]62. Cf. {Dome}, {Domestic}.] 1. That sort of wood which is proper for buildings or for tools, utensils, furniture, carriages, fences, ships, and the like; -- usually said of felled trees, but sometimes of those standing. Cf. {Lumber}, 3. [1913 Webster]

And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, . . . And fiddled in the timber! --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]

2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree. [1913 Webster]

3. Fig.: Material for any structure. [1913 Webster]

Such dispositions are the very errors of human nature; and yet they are the fittest timber to make politics of. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

4. A single piece or squared stick of wood intended for building, or already framed; collectively, the larger pieces or sticks of wood, forming the framework of a house, ship, or other structure, in distinction from the covering or boarding. [1913 Webster]

So they prepared timber . . . to build the house. --1 Kings v. 18. [1913 Webster]

Many of the timbers were decayed. --W. Coxe. [1913 Webster]

5. Woods or forest; wooden land. [Western U. S.] [1913 Webster]

6. (Shipbuilding) A rib, or a curving piece of wood, branching outward from the keel and bending upward in a vertical direction. One timber is composed of several pieces united. [1913 Webster]

{Timber and room}. (Shipbuilding) Same as {Room and space}. See under {Room}.

{Timber beetle} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of beetles the larv[ae] of which bore in timber; as, the silky timber beetle ({Lymexylon sericeum}).

{Timber doodle} (Zo["o]l.), the American woodcock. [Local, U. S.]

{Timber grouse} (Zo["o]l.), any species of grouse that inhabits woods, as the ruffed grouse and spruce partridge; -- distinguished from prairie grouse.

{Timber hitch} (Naut.), a kind of hitch used for temporarily marking fast a rope to a spar. See Illust. under {Hitch}.

{Timber mare}, a kind of instrument upon which soldiers were formerly compelled to ride for punishment. --Johnson.

{Timber scribe}, a metal tool or pointed instrument for marking timber. --Simmonds.

{Timber sow}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Timber worm}, below. --Bacon.

{Timber tree}, a tree suitable for timber.

{Timber worm} (Zo["o]l.), any larval insect which burrows in timber.

{Timber yard}, a yard or place where timber is deposited. [1913 Webster]