timber

TIM-bur/ˈtɪmbɚ/UKTIM-buh/ˈtɪmbə/

Pluraltimbers (some meanings)

Verbtimbers, timbering, timbered

13 meanings of timber

Practice

1
building woodnounUKAustraliaNew Zealanduncountable
Wood that has been cut to size and prepared for use in building and construction.
Builders stacked the fresh timber beside the half-finished walls.
Each load of timber was inspected before it went into the frame.
UsageSay a load of timber or a piece of timber; in North America the everyday word is lumber.
Similarlumber, wood, boards, planks
2
forest treesnoununcountable
Trees in a forest considered as a source of wood.
The valley's timber had been harvested steadily for over a century.
Conservationists argued that the old-growth timber should never be logged.
UsageGoes with verbs of harvest: cut timber, harvest timber, log the timber.
Similarforest, trees, woodland, woods
Note
The word goes back through Old English timber to an Indo-European root meaning "build, house," so standing trees are named for what they will become.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The word derives through Old English timber. en.wiktionary.org
Its ultimate Indo-European root means "build, house". en.wiktionary.org
3
wooden beamnouncountable
A heavy wooden beam, usually a whole log squared off, used to give strong support to something such as a roof.
A massive oak timber ran the length of the ceiling.
The bridge rested on great squared timbers driven into the riverbed.
UsageFor beams say three timbers, the timbers of a ship; for the wood itself, a pile of timber.
Similarbeam
Note
One timber is a single heavy beam, and a structure's timbers are the main members that hold it up, as in the timbers of a ship.
4
materialnouncountable or uncountable
The qualities that make someone suited to a particular role, as in 'presidential timber', or more generally the material something is made of.
After watching the recruit for a week, the colonel decided he was real officer timber.
Party leaders spent months asking whether the popular governor was truly presidential timber.
UsageUsually after a role word, with no article: presidential timber, officer timber.
Similarstuff, makings, material, caliber, mettle
5
add supportsverbtransitive
To fit something with wooden beams or supports.
Engineers timbered the trench before workers climbed inside.
The settlers timber their well to stop the walls from collapsing.
Similarshore, brace, prop, support

Less common meanings

6
warning shoutinterjection
Used as a warning shout that a tree being cut down is about to fall; also used, often humorously, when anything is toppling over.
Hearing "Timber!" echo through the forest, the crew dropped their tools and ran.
He cupped his hands and yelled "Timber!" the instant the trunk gave way.
Note
The cry belongs to a precise moment: the trunk has been cut, it has begun to go, and everyone nearby must clear the line of fall. Robert S. Close's With Hooves of Brass (1961) builds up to it with cracks like rifle-fire from the core and the top swaying drunkenly, and only then does the warning ring out. It is shouted, not said.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Robert S. Close wrote With Hooves of Brass. en.wiktionary.org
With Hooves of Brass was first published in 1961. shc.stanford.edu
The passage describes rifle-like cracks from the trunk's core, followed by the treetop swaying drunkenly and then the warning cry. en.wiktionary.org
7
cricket stumpsnounslangcountable or uncountable
The stumps of a cricket wicket.
The batsman misjudged the swing and lost his timber to a full toss.
That last ball clattered into the timber and bowled him for a duck.
Similarstumps, wicket, sticks
Note
Cricket slang that names the stumps by their material, much as the shooter's word for a gunstock does. It works as a mass noun for the whole set, so a bowler hits the timber, not a timber. When a ball strikes the stumps and the batsman is bowled, this is the casual word for what was struck.
8
verbobsoletetransitive
To surmount or crown something, as a crest surmounts the helmet in a coat of arms.
Similarcrown, top, cap
9
verbobsoletetransitive
To construct, frame, or build something.
For many heads that undertake [learning], were never squared nor timbred for it.
1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica
Note
A general sense of building that has dropped out of use, leaving the verb tied to wood. Thomas Browne could still apply it to minds in Pseudodoxia Epidemica (1646): many heads that undertake learning "were never squared nor timbred for it." The pairing with squared shows the carpenter's image behind it, a head shaped and framed for its task.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Timber formerly meant to construct, frame, or build. en.wiktionary.org
Thomas Browne wrote Pseudodoxia Epidemica, first published in 1646. catalogue.etoncollege.com
The first-edition publication year is 1646. catalogue.etoncollege.com
Browne used the quoted wording about heads undertaking learning, supporting the figurative image of shaping and framing a mind. tianmu.org
10
verbobsolete
Of a bird, to make or build a nest.
Note
An obsolete bird's verb that applies the old idea of building to a nest. The root meaning "build, house" behind the forest sense shows through plainly here. Treat it as a word for reading older texts rather than for use. In modern English, a bird nests or builds a nest.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Timber has an obsolete verb sense meaning to make a nest. en.wiktionary.org
The nesting verb continues the older meaning of building. en.wiktionary.org
The forest noun ultimately derives from a root meaning build or house. en.wiktionary.org
11
nounarchaiccountable or uncountable
A set quantity of fur skins (such as marten, ermine, or sable) packed between boards, amounting to forty in some cases and one hundred twenty in others.
Note
A unit of the old fur trade, not anything made of wood: skins of marten, ermine or sable were counted out and packed between boards. The count varied. It was forty in some cases and a hundred and twenty in others, so a figure in a historical text should be read in its own context. Spellings vary too, and timmer and timbre both name the same bundle.
12
nouncolloquial
The stock of a rifle or shotgun, so called when it is made of wood.
13
verbobsolete
Of a hawk or other bird, to alight and settle in a tree.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of timber apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English 'tymber' and Old English 'timber', tracing back through Proto-Germanic '*timrą' to the Proto-Indo-European root '*dem-' meaning 'build'. Cognates include German 'Zimmer', Old Norse 'timbr', Latin 'domus', and Ancient Greek 'dómos'.