lumber

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lumber

logs or timber cut for use; to move in a slow, clumsy, noisy way: He lumbers along like an old, angry bear.

Not to be confused with:

lumbar – relating to the loin, especially the lower back area: a pain in the lumbar region

lum·ber¹

(lŭm′bər)

1. Timber sawed into boards, planks, or other structural members of standard or specified length.

2. Something useless or cumbersome.

3. Chiefly British Miscellaneous stored articles.

v. lum·bered, lum·ber·ing, lum·bers

v.tr.

a. To cut down (trees) and prepare as marketable timber.

b. To cut down the timber of.

2. Chiefly British To clutter with or as if with unused articles.

v.intr.

To cut and prepare timber for marketing.

[Perhaps from lumber.]

lum′ber adj.

lum′ber·er n.

lum·ber²

(lŭm′bər)

intr.v. lum·bered, lum·ber·ing, lum·bers

1. To walk or move clumsily or heavily. See Synonyms at blunder.

2. To move with a rumbling noise.

[Middle English lomeren, possibly of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish dialectal loma, to move heavily.]

lum′ber·ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lumber

(ˈlʌmbə)

1. (Forestry) chiefly

a. logs; sawn timber

b. cut timber, esp when sawn and dressed ready for use in joinery, carpentry, etc

c. (as modifier): the lumber trade.

a. useless household articles that are stored away

b. (as modifier): lumber room.

3. (tr) to pile together in a disorderly manner

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

5. (Forestry) chiefly US and Canadian to convert (the trees) of (a forest) into marketable timber

6. (tr) informal Brit to burden with something unpleasant, tedious, etc

7. (tr) Austral to arrest; imprison

[C17: perhaps from a noun use of lumber²]

ˈlumberer n

lumber

(ˈlʌmbə)

vb (intr)

1. to move awkwardly

2. an obsolete word for rumble

[C14 lomeren; perhaps related to lome lame¹, Swedish dialect loma to move ponderously]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lum•ber¹

(ˈlʌm bər)
n.

1. timber sawed or split into planks, boards, etc.

2. miscellaneous useless articles that are stored away.

v.i.

3. to cut timber and prepare it for market.

v.t.

4. to convert (a specified amount, area, etc.) into lumber.

5. to heap together in disorder.

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

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

lum′ber•er, n.

lum•ber²

(ˈlʌm bər)

v.i.

1. to move clumsily or heavily.

2. to make a rumbling noise.

[1300–50; Middle English lomeren, perhaps < Scandinavian; compare dial. Swedish lomra to resound, loma to walk heavily]

lum′ber•ly, adj.

lumber

Past participle: lumbered
Gerund: lumbering

Imperative
lumber
lumber

Present
I lumber
you lumber
he/she/it lumbers
we lumber
you lumber
they lumber

Preterite
I lumbered
you lumbered
he/she/it lumbered
we lumbered
you lumbered
they lumbered

Present Continuous
I am lumbering
you are lumbering
he/she/it is lumbering
we are lumbering
you are lumbering
they are lumbering

Present Perfect
I have lumbered
you have lumbered
he/she/it has lumbered
we have lumbered
you have lumbered
they have lumbered

Past Continuous
I was lumbering
you were lumbering
he/she/it was lumbering
we were lumbering
you were lumbering
they were lumbering

Past Perfect
I had lumbered
you had lumbered
he/she/it had lumbered
we had lumbered
you had lumbered
they had lumbered

Future
I will lumber
you will lumber
he/she/it will lumber
we will lumber
you will lumber
they will lumber

Future Perfect
I will have lumbered
you will have lumbered
he/she/it will have lumbered
we will have lumbered
you will have lumbered
they will have lumbered

Future Continuous
I will be lumbering
you will be lumbering
he/she/it will be lumbering
we will be lumbering
you will be lumbering
they will be lumbering

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been lumbering
you have been lumbering
he/she/it has been lumbering
we have been lumbering
you have been lumbering
they have been lumbering

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been lumbering
you will have been lumbering
he/she/it will have been lumbering
we will have been lumbering
you will have been lumbering
they will have been lumbering

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been lumbering
you had been lumbering
he/she/it had been lumbering
we had been lumbering
you had been lumbering
they had been lumbering

Conditional
I would lumber
you would lumber
he/she/it would lumber
we would lumber
you would lumber
they would lumber

Past Conditional
I would have lumbered
you would have lumbered
he/she/it would have lumbered
we would have lumbered
you would have lumbered
they would have lumbered

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	lumber - the wood of trees cut and prepared for use as building material timber stock - lumber used in the construction of something; "they will cut round stock to 1-inch diameter" strip - thin piece of wood or metal building material - material used for constructing buildings wood - the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees plank, board - a stout length of sawn timber; made in a wide variety of sizes and used for many purposes planking - planks collectively; a quantity of planks
	2.	lumber - an implement used in baseball by the batter baseball bat baseball equipment - equipment used in playing baseball bat - a club used for hitting a ball in various games handgrip, handle, grip, hold - the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it; "he grabbed the hammer by the handle"; "it was an old briefcase but it still had a good grip"
Verb	1.	lumber - move heavily or clumsily; "The heavy man lumbered across the room" pound walk - use one's feet to advance; advance by steps; "Walk, don't run!"; "We walked instead of driving"; "She walks with a slight limp"; "The patient cannot walk yet"; "Walk over to the cabinet"
	2.	lumber - cut lumber, as in woods and forests log fell, strike down, cut down, drop - cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow; "strike down a tree"; "Lightning struck down the hikers"

lumber

verb

1. (Brit. informal) burden, land, load, saddle, impose upon, encumber She was lumbered with a bill for about £90.

noun

1. (Brit.) junk, refuse, rubbish, discards, trash, clutter, jumble, white elephants, castoffs, trumpery The wheels had been consigned to the loft as useless lumber.

lumber

verb plod, shuffle, shamble, trudge, stump, clump, waddle, trundle, lump along He turned and lumbered back to his chair.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

lumber

verb

To move heavily:

clump, galumph, hulk, lump, stump.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

maderamadera aserrada

lumber

¹ [ˈlʌmbəʳ]

A. N

1. (= wood) (esp US) → maderos mpl

2. (esp Brit) (= junk) → trastos mpl viejos

B. VT

1. (Brit) (= encumber) to lumber sb with sth → hacer que algn cargue con algo, endilgar algo a algn
he got lumbered with the job → le endilgaron el trabajo
I got lumbered with the girl for the afternoon → tuve que cargar toda la tarde con la chica, me endilgaron a la chica toda la tarde

2. (= fill) [+ space, room] to lumber sth with sth → atiborrar algo de algo

C. VI → cortar y aserrar árboles, explotar los bosques

D. CPD lumber company N → empresa f maderera
lumber jacket N → chaqueta f de leñador
lumber mill N → aserradero m
lumber room N → trastero m
lumber yard N (US) → almacén m de madera

lumber

² [ˈlʌmbəʳ] VI (also lumber about) → moverse pesadamente (also lumber along) → avanzar pesadamente

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

lumber¹

(ˈlambə) noun

1. old unwanted furniture etc. trasto

2. timber sawn up. maderos, maderas

verb

to give (someone) an unwanted responsibility. to lumber someone with a job. hacer que alguien cargue con la responsabilidad

ˈlumberjack (-dʒak) noun

a person employed to cut down, saw up and move trees. leñador

lumber²

(ˈlambə) verb

to move about heavily and clumsily. moverse pesadamente

lumber

→ madera

References in classic literature ?

How many people, on that voyage, load up the boat till it is ever in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things which they think essential to the pleasure and comfort of the trip, but which are really only useless lumber.

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The hauling was not over till mid-day, and as the lumber was to be delivered to Andrew Hale, the Starkfield builder, it was really easier for Ethan to send Jotham Powell, the hired man, back to the farm on foot, and drive the load down to the village himself.

View in context

Attics, says the dictionary, are "places where lumber is stored," and the world has used them to store a good deal of its lumber in at one time or another.

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There was an old truckle-bed among the lumber, on which one of the gentlemen might rest.

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Till the 25th October Crete, as all our planet knows, was the sole surviving European repository of "autonomous institutions," "local self-government," and the rest of the archaic lumber devised in the past for the confusion of human affairs.

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When at last the lumber and tools were assembled, and the doors were closed again and the cold draughts shut out, grandfather rode away to meet the coroner at the Shimerdas', and Fuchs took off his coat and settled down to work.

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The work was slow, for they had to saw their lumber by hand from the standing forest.

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The weakened glare of the lights in the street below, shining through the window which had no blind or curtain to intercept it, was enough to show the character of the room, though not sufficient fully to reveal the various articles of lumber, old corded trunks and broken furniture, which were scattered about.

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At his bidding, Tantor would come from a great distance--as far as his keen ears could detect the shrill and piercing summons of the ape-man--and when Tarzan was squatted upon his head, Tantor would lumber through the jungle in any direction which his rider bade him go.

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Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.

View in context

To be as much out of observation as possible for reasons of her own, and to escape the gallantries of the young men, she set out before the chiming began, and took a back seat under the gallery, close to the lumber, where only old men and women came, and where the bier stood on end among the churchyard tools.

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After the destruction of Messina, an order for enough lumber to build ten thousand new houses was cabled to New York and telephoned to Western lumbermen.

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