skins, as of martens, ermines, sables, etc., packed between boards; being in some cases forty skins, in
others one hundred and twenty; — called also timmer. [Written also timbre.]
Timber
(Tim"ber), n. [F. timbre. See Timbre.] (Her.) The crest on a coat of arms. [Written also timbre.]
Timber
(Tim"ber), v. t. To surmount as a timber does. [Obs.]
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. tömmer,
Goth. timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L. domus a house, Gr. house, to build, Skr. dama a house.
&radic62. 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.]
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.
Timber and room.
(Shipbuilding) Same as Room and space. See under Room. — Timber beetle
(Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of beetles the larvæ of which bore in timber; as, the silky timber
beetle — Timber doodle (Zoöl.), the American woodcock. [Local, U. S.] — Timber grouse (Zoöl.),
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. (Zoöl.) Same as Timber worm, below. Bacon. —
Timber tree, a tree suitable for timber. — Timber worm (Zoöl.), any larval insect which burrows in
timber. — Timber yard, a yard or place where timber is deposited.
Timber
(Tim"ber) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Timbered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Timbering.] To furnish with timber; —
chiefly used in the past participle.
His bark is stoutly timbered.
Shak. Timber
(Tim"ber), v. i.
1. To light on a tree. [Obs.]