Meaning of timber in English:

timber

Pronunciation /ˈtɪmbə/

Translate timber into Spanish

noun

mass noun

1Wood prepared for use in building and carpentry.
‘the exploitation of forests for timber’
- ‘a small timber building’
- ‘The rainforest is being cleared legally and illegally for timber, for pulp wood to make paper, and to make way for oil palm plantations.’
- ‘An abundance of coppice woods, known as spring woods, were required to provide charcoal, tan bark, fuel wood and timber.’
- ‘They cleared some of the natural broadleaf woodland to make way for sheep pastures; they also coppiced or managed other parts of the woodland for timber and firewood.’
- ‘At the rear of the stone building was a small timber extension with a range of further accommodation.’
- ‘Malaysia is also a major producer of timber and timber products including hardwoods.’
- ‘Its product, wood, is of primary importance to humans as timber for construction, fuelwoods, and wood-pulp for paper manufacturing.’
- ‘The kitchen beyond is painted blue with red floor tiling and a good range of whitewashed timber units at ground and eye-level.’
- ‘This comprises the aforementioned sauna as well as an attic room with timber floor, wood panelled walls and a Velux window.’
- ‘Having spent four years restoring the cottage, it is now home, from where Richard works as a woodworker making timber buildings and follies.’
- ‘Building with timber results in lower greenhouse emissions and less air and water pollution, while it also produces less solid waste by-products.’
- ‘Traditional timber buildings, craft demonstrations, street entertainers and a replica ship will create an authentic period atmosphere.’
- ‘The project was a three-year labour of love, in which they raised $60,000 to replace the old timber building.’
- ‘The next stage will involve building 340 timber lodges.’
- ‘On July 2 in that year, a fire swept through the village, destroying dozens of the thatched and timber buildings.’
- ‘The timber buildings suffered from woodworm and supplied an ideal location for woodlice, spiders and wasps.’
- ‘A man gifted with his hands, he was content and at ease building walls and making timber panels.’
- ‘For the author, the craft of building in timber is not so much carpentry as wizardry.’
- ‘One of the problems he faces is access to prepared timber.’
- ‘Savannah has clearly invested in the corporate look as the furniture and surroundings are streamlined with natural materials: timber, stone, glass and leather.’
- ‘He hadn't seen that kind of quality timber for sale in all his twenty-seven years.’
wood, logs, firewood
View synonyms
1. 1.1Trees grown for use in building or carpentry.
  ‘contracts to cut timber’
  ‘Today, top grade oak timber is increasingly hard to find, with borer-perforated trees more suitable for paper or pulpwood.’
  ‘That's because until seedlings reach green-up, regulations keep adjacent cut blocks of marketable timber off limits to loggers.’
  ‘The cooperative has formed forest protection teams that have helped in the confiscation of illegally cut timber.’
  ‘Many landowners cut their best remaining timber to supplement their income and feed their families.’
  ‘Sixty years later he was amazed that more timber was being cut than during the bonanza era of lumbering.’
  ‘Since only oak met the high requirements of strength and durability, oak timber became a strategic raw material.’
  ‘Trees take 80 years to mature and timber is cut every five years, giving a big income boost in that year.’
  ‘For example, unexpected medical bills may make it necessary for a landowner to harvest and sell timber that would otherwise have been allowed to grow longer.’
  ‘Coffee can be grown along with high-value timber, for example, or with tropical fruits that could be sold as concentrates or jams.’
  ‘The large quantities of timber grown in inland Aberdeenshire were floated down river to ports for shipment.’
  ‘The ring was even seeking Carey Act segregations on land where timber grew.’
  ‘We can grow twice as much timber on our land if the markets tell us to do so.’
  ‘Beech is a very easy timber to grow on a rotational basis.’
  ‘Much of the timber had been cut for income and the few cows that were there were left to Rose Lane's brother, Alton.’
  ‘But, locally there is plenty of fell land on which we could grow bio-fuel timber, and it might make a change from looking at endless conifers.’
  ‘When Shoaf started out, he loved the woods, the Forest Service, and cutting timber.’
  ‘In some places, great swathes of hillside have been cut away in the urgency to log timber.’
  ‘The branch-cutting of oaks that was common everywhere meant that good timber was ruined.’
  ‘Their most reliable income comes from cutting timber.’
  ‘They longed for jobs picking fruit, cutting timber or doing construction - anything besides hanging poultry.’
2. 1.2usually timberscount noun A wooden beam or board used in building a house or ship.
  ‘The low, irregular ceiling is crisscrossed with beams made from ships' timbers and a log fire crackles merrily in the hearth.’
  ‘The house or building is reinforced with timbers supporting the floors inside.’
  ‘Cedar, fir, and pine were the preferred ship timbers of the ancient Mediterranean.’
  ‘Most of the timbers from the ship have now been lifted and are currently being conserved in wet tanks at a disused steelworks nearby.’
  ‘There were also the remains of ship's timbers, nails and other metalwork.’
  ‘There was other, direct, evidence of dry rot in the timbers of the building.’
  ‘The wreck is wooden, with the timbers laid in a double-diamond pattern.’
  ‘The walls have wooden panelling, the timbers of the roof are exposed and the views over Glasgow are panoramic.’
  ‘The quality of the ship timbers produced by the Samoans did not escape notice.’
  ‘The other comes from the echo that resounds through the timbers and floor-boards.’
  ‘The stairways and the timbers used have had few equals in the present day.’
  ‘Repairs to the plasterwork, timbers, roof and pillars were carried out and the structure was also lime washed.’
  ‘Masses of vines spiraled upward against the vertical timbers and covered the thatched roof.’
  ‘The result is a charming house full of exposed brick walls and old timbers.’
  ‘Although much of the decking is rotten, the structural timbers are intact giving some parts of the wreck a skeleton appearance.’
  ‘This is the wreck of a very old wooden sailing vessel complete with huge oak timbers, row upon row of copper nails and who knows what else.’
  ‘Mr Ward said the droppings had blocked the gutters and downpipes on the building, causing water to seep into the roof timbers.’
  ‘This room also features a Georgian fireplace with cast iron inset and exposed black floor timbers.’
  ‘The interior features are what make the building so special, with intact original Tudor ironwork and timbers.’
  ‘Burnt roof timbers beneath the collapsed tiles show it was destroyed in a fire.’
  beam, wooden beam, spar, pole, plank, batten, lath, board, joist, rafter
  View synonyms
3. 1.3as exclamation Used to warn that a tree is about to fall after being cut.
  ‘we cried ‘Timber!’ as our tree fell’
2US informal usually with adjective Personal qualities or character.
- ‘she is frequently hailed as presidential timber’
- ‘A woman just will not be accepted as presidential timber in the current macho-male-dominated political environment.’
- ‘I definitely think he is presidential timber.’
- ‘What is the real meaning of presidential timber?’
- ‘For the first 40 years of his life, Bush was never considered presidential timber.’

Origin

Old English in the sense ‘a building’, also ‘building material’, of Germanic origin; related to German Zimmer ‘room’, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘build’.