- Timber tree
- 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.