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. t["o]mmer, Goth. timrjan to build, timrja a builder, L.
   domus a house, Gr. ? house, ? to build, Skr. dama a house.
   [root]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.
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            And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, . . .
            And fiddled in the timber!            --Tennyson.
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   2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree.
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   3. Fig.: Material for any structure.
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            Such dispositions are the very errors of human
            nature; and yet they are the fittest timber to make
            politics of.                          --Bacon.
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   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.
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            So they prepared timber . . . to build the house.
                                                  --1 Kings v.
                                                  18.
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            Many of the timbers were decayed.     --W. Coxe.
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   5. Woods or forest; wooden land. [Western U. S.]
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   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.
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   Timber and room. (Shipbuilding) Same as Room and space.
      See under Room.

   Timber beetle (Zool.), any one of numerous species of
      beetles the larvae of which bore in timber; as, the silky
      timber beetle (Lymexylon sericeum).

   Timber doodle (Zool.), the American woodcock. [Local, U.
      S.]

   Timber grouse (Zool.), 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. (Zool.) Same as Timber worm, below. --Bacon.

   Timber tree, a tree suitable for timber.

   Timber worm (Zool.), any larval insect which burrows in
      timber.

   Timber yard, a yard or place where timber is deposited.
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