TIMBER
Tim"ber, n. Etym: [F. timbre. See Timbre.] (Her.)
Defn: The crest on a coat of arms. [Written also timbre.]
TIMBER
Tim"ber, v. t.
Defn: To surmount as a timber does. [Obs.]
TIMBER Tim"ber, n. Etym: [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. tömmer, Goth. timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L. domus a house, Gr. dama a house. *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. And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, . . . And fiddled in the timber! Tennyson.
2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree.
3. Fig.: Material for any structure. Such dispositions are the very errors of human nature; and yet they are the fittest timber to make politics of. Bacon.
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. So they prepared timber . . . to build the house. 1 Kings v. 18. Many of the timbers were decayed. W. Coxe.
5. Woods or forest; wooden land. [Western U.S.]