And ta'en my fiddle to the gate, . . . And fiddled
in the timber! --Tennyson.
2. The body, stem, or trunk of a tree.
3. Fig.: Material for any structure.
Such dispositions are the very errors of human
nature; and yet they are the fittest timber to make
politics of. --Bacon.
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.
So they prepared timber . . . to build the house.
--1 Kings v.
18.
Many of the timbers were decayed. --W. Coxe.
5. Woods or forest; wooden land. [Western U. S.]
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.
{Timber and room}. (Shipbuilding) Same as {Room and space}.
See under {Room}.
{Timber beetle} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of
beetles the larv[ae] of which bore in timber; as, the
silky timber beetle ({Lymexylon sericeum}).
{Timber doodle} (Zo["o]l.), the American woodcock. [Local, U.
S.]
{Timber grouse} (Zo["o]l.), 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}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Timber worm}, below.
--Bacon.
{Timber tree}, a tree suitable for timber.
{Timber worm} (Zo["o]l.), any larval insect which burrows in
timber.
{Timber yard}, a yard or place where timber is deposited.
His bark is stoutly timbered. --Shak.