English Explanatory Dictionary

lumber

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Wood sawn into planks or otherwise prepared for sale or use, especially as a building material.
  2. Old furniture or other items that take up room, or are stored away.
  3. Useless or cumbrous material.
  4. A pawnbroker's shop, or room for storing articles put in pawn; hence, a pledge, or pawn.
  5. A baseball bat.
  6. An erect penis.
verb
  1. To move clumsily and heavily; to move slowly.
  2. To load down with things, to fill, to encumber, to impose an unwanted burden on.
  3. To heap together in disorder.
  4. To fill or encumber with lumber.
  5. To pawn (goods).

Pronunciation

lŭmʹbə /ˈlʌm.bə/ lŭmʹbər /ˈlʌm.bɚ/ en-us-lumber.ogg lo͝omʹbə /ˈlʊm.bə/

Word forms

lumber lumbers lumbering lumbered

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

timber wood

Related words

lumbering lumberingness

Derived words

bring the lumber dimensional lumber dimension lumber lumberdom lumberer lumberjack lumber jacket lumber-jacketed lumberless lumberly lumberman lumbermill lumber pie lumberroom lumber room lumbersome Lumberton Lumberville lumberwood lumbery lumberyard lumber yard lumber with
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