I. ˈləmbə(r) intransitive verb
( lumbered ; lumbered ; lumbering -b(ə)riŋ ; lumbers )
Etymology: Middle English lomeren; probably akin to Swedish dialect loma to walk with slow and heavy steps, Middle English lame — more at lame
1. : to move heavily or clumsily : move as if burdened
the airplane … now proceeded to lumber slowly along — Noel Coward
lumbered a little in his walk — Kenneth Roberts
the story lumbers to a permanent standstill shortly after it begins — New Yorker
2.
[probably imitative]
: to make a rumbling sound
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: perhaps alteration of lombard (I) ; from the use of pawnshops as storehouses of disused property
1.
a. : surplus or disused articles (as furniture) that are stored away : things cumbrous, bulky, or useless
b. : something superfluous, without value, or needlessly cumbersome
get rid of the useless lumber that blocks our highways of thought — John Dewey
this lumber of facts, conjectures, alternate possibilities — J.G.Cozzens
useless words … dropped as worthless linguistic lumber — T.D.Weldon
2.
a. : timber or logs especially after being prepared for the market — compare rough lumber , shiplap , surfaced lumber , worked lumber
b. : one of several structural materials prepared in a form similar to lumber
insulating lumber
metal lumber
3. : superfluous flesh — used especially of a dog
III. verb
( lumbered ; lumbered ; lumbering -b(ə)riŋ ; lumbers )
transitive verb
1. : to cover or fill with or as if with lumber : clutter up : burden unnecessarily : encumber
the constitution … was lumbered with obsolete provisions — Americana Annual
did not wish to lumber his mind with the rubbish that most men seemed to rejoice in — Van Wyck Brooks
2. : to heap together in disorder
all those things lumbered in the closet
3. : to log and saw the timber of
this … valley was lumbered, hard, in 1915 — R.M.Neal
intransitive verb
1. : to cut logs in the forest : saw logs into lumber for the market
colonists were squatting on their land, lumbering in their woods — American Guide Series: Maryland
2. : to become stored away and useless
another large box to lumber with the odd and the antiquated — Peter Maggs
IV. adjective
1. : of, made of, or containing lumber
lumber pile
2. : dealing in lumber
lumber business
lumber camp