lumber1

[luhm-ber] /ˈlʌm bər/
noun
1.
timber sawed or split into planks, boards, etc.
2.
miscellaneous useless articles that are stored away.
verb (used without object)
3.
to cut timber and prepare it for market.
4.
to become useless or to be stored away as useless.
verb (used with object)
5.
to convert (a specified amount, area, etc.) into lumber:
We lumbered more than a million acres last year.
6.
to heap together in disorder.
7.
to fill up or obstruct with miscellaneous useless articles; encumber.
Origin
1545-55; orig. noun use of lumber2; i.e., useless goods that weigh one down, impede one's movements
Related forms
lumberer, noun
lumberless, adjective

lumber2

[luhm-ber] /ˈlʌm bər/
verb (used without object)
1.
to move clumsily or heavily, especially from great or ponderous bulk:
overloaded wagons lumbering down the dirt road.
2.
to make a rumbling noise.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English lomeren; compare dialectal Swedish lomra to resound, loma to walk heavily
Related forms
lumberly, adjective
Synonyms
1. trudge, barge, plod.
British Dictionary definitions for lumber

lumber1

/ˈlʌmbə/
noun
1.
(mainly US & Canadian)
  1. logs; sawn timber
  2. cut timber, esp when sawn and dressed ready for use in joinery, carpentry, etc
  3. (as modifier): the lumber trade
2.
(Brit)
  1. useless household articles that are stored away
  2. (as modifier): lumber room
verb
3.
(transitive) to pile together in a disorderly manner
4.
(transitive) to fill up or encumber with useless household articles
5.
(mainly US & Canadian) to convert (the trees) of (a forest) into marketable timber
6.
(transitive) (Brit, informal) to burden with something unpleasant, tedious, etc
7.
(transitive) (Austral) to arrest; imprison
Derived Forms
lumberer, noun
Word Origin
C17: perhaps from a noun use of lumber²

lumber2

/ˈlʌmbə/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to move awkwardly
2.
an obsolete word for rumble
Word Origin
C14 lomeren; perhaps related to lomelame1, Swedish dialect loma to move ponderously
Word Origin and History for lumber
n.

"timber sawn into rough planks," 1660s, American English (Massachusetts), earlier "disused bit of furniture; heavy, useless objects" (1550s), probably from lumber (v.), perhaps influenced by Lombard, from the Italian immigrants famous as pawnbrokers and money-lenders in England (see Lombard). Lumbar, Lumbard were old alternative forms of Lombard in English. The evolution of sense then would be because a lumber-house ("pawn shop") naturally accumulates odds and ends of furniture.

Live Lumber; soldiers or passengers on board a ship are so called by the sailors.


LUMBER HOUSE. A house appropriated by thieves for the reception of their stolen property. ["Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence," London, 1811]

v.

"to move clumsily," c.1300, lomere, probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Swedish loma "move slowly, walk heavily," Old Norse lami "lame"), ultimately cognate with lame (adj.). Related: Lumbered; lumbering.

Slang definitions & phrases for lumber

lumber

noun

A bat (1940s+ Baseball)

verb

To take advantage of someone; make someone a scapegoat •Chiefly British: He was totally lumbered. It was a terrible travesty (1845+)

[verb sense fr lumber, ''to fill up or obstruct with lumber,'' found by 1642]