lumber
Wood cut into boards or planks
Wood that is cut into long pieces, like boards or planks, and used to build things.
[amount] of lumber for [project]
- We bought enough lumber to build a small deck in the backyard.
- The price of lumber has gone up sharply this year.
- Stacks of lumber were drying in the yard behind the hardware store.
- The cabin was built from rough-cut local lumber.
- He measured the windows before ordering the lumber for the frames.
- They used cheap lumber to make the table.
- The store sells lumber and tools for building.
- We need more lumber to finish the house.
- The truck brought new lumber to the site.
- She cut the lumber into shorter pieces.
Move in a slow, heavy way
To move slowly and heavily, not quickly or gracefully.
[someone/something] lumbers [adverb/preposition]
- The old bear lumbered out of the forest and across the road.
- He lumbered up the stairs, exhausted after the long day.
- A delivery truck lumbered past the small parked cars.
- She watched the players lumber back to the locker room after the tough game.
- The elephant lumbered slowly toward the watering hole.
- The big man lumbered across the room.
- The tired dog lumbered after its owner.
- The truck lumbered up the hill.
- The bear lumbered through the trees.
- The fat cat lumbered to its food bowl.
Burden someone with something unwanted
To make someone take something they do not want, usually work, a problem, or a responsibility.
to lumber [someone] with [something]
- They tried to lumber me with all the paperwork just before the holidays.
- We got lumbered with looking after their kids while they went out for dinner.
- He was lumbered with organizing the whole event at the last minute.
- Don't lumber your assistant with tasks you should do yourself.
- She felt she had been unfairly lumbered with the blame.
- My boss lumbered me with extra work on Friday.
- We were lumbered with cleaning the whole house.
- He got lumbered with the bill for dinner.
- She was lumbered with taking care of the guests.
- They lumbered him with a boring job.
Old furniture and household junk
Old furniture and things in a house that people do not want to use but have not thrown away.
[old] lumber in [a room/place]
- Most of the old chairs ended up as lumber in the attic.
- The spare room was full of forgotten lumber and broken toys.
- They cleared out years of lumber before selling the house.
- He turned a dusty corner of the cellar, piled high with lumber, into a workshop.
- The house had a small lumber room at the back, crammed with trunks and boxes.
- The attic was full of old lumber.
- They put the broken table with the lumber in the back room.
- We threw away a lot of lumber before we moved.
- The old house had a room for lumber.
- She cleaned the lumber out of the garage.
- Base: lumber
- Plural: lumber
- Base: lumber
- 3rd Person Singular: lumbers
- Present Participle: lumbering
- Past: lumbered
be lumbered with
1Be stuck with something unwanted
To have an unwanted job, problem, or thing that you cannot easily get rid of.
- We were lumbered with a car that kept breaking down.
- She felt she was always the one who was lumbered with extra work.
- The town is lumbered with a huge debt after the failed project.
lumber along
1Move forward slowly and heavily
To move forward in a slow, heavy, not graceful way.
- The old bus lumbered along the narrow country road.
- We watched the hippos lumber along the riverbank in the hot sun.
- Traffic lumbered along for miles after the accident.
lumber off
1Leave in a slow, heavy way
To go away, moving slowly and heavily.
- He muttered something under his breath and lumbered off toward the door.
- The bear lumbered off into the forest when it heard our voices.
- After the meeting, everyone just lumbered off to their own offices.
lumber room
1Room for storing unused furniture
A room in a house where people keep old furniture and other things they do not use.
- The children were forbidden to play in the dusty lumber room at the top of the house.
- They cleared the lumber room and turned it into a small study.
- In old houses, the lumber room was often filled with broken chairs and trunks.
lumber someone with [something]
1Give someone an unwanted burden
To make a person take an unwanted job, problem, or thing.
- Don't lumber me with your problems just before I go on holiday.
- They lumbered the new employee with all the weekend shifts.
- Her brother lumbered her with looking after his dog for a month.
lumber up to
1Approach slowly and heavily
To move slowly and heavily toward someone or something.
- The large dog lumbered up to us, wagging its tail.
- He lumbered up to the counter and ordered a coffee.
- An old man lumbered up to the microphone to ask a question.