From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlumberlum‧ber1 /ˈlʌmbə $ -ər/ verb 1 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition]WALK to move in a slow awkward waylumber up/towards/into/along etc They lumbered along slowly. A blue bus lumbered past.2 [transitive] informalJOB/TASK to give someone a job or responsibility that they do not wantget/be lumbered with something A career was less easy once I was lumbered with a husband and children.3 [intransitive] American EnglishTAF to cut down trees in a large area and prepare them to be sold→ See Verb table
TAFpieces of wood used for building, that have been cut to specific lengths and widths SYN timber2 British English informalTHING large objects that are no longer useful or wanted
Examples from the Corpus
lumber• We chat about the lumbering, and the latest antics at Mount Blue, in my neck of the woods.• With that, he stood and slowly lumbered his way down the patch.• The Red Flag taxi lumbered off into the night.• She lumbered out of bed, reached for the too recently removed dressing-gown and took herself off to her bathroom.• Two Hearthwares, huge in their armour, lumbered over to join in the fray.• Djindjic told a rally at Republic Square that Milosevic was trying to lumber the police with responsibility for failed government policy.• Instead of proceeding at his normal brisk trot, he lumbered up the step-ladder and heaved himself ponderously inside the machine's cabin.• I was lumbered with one hairstyle and that's the way it would stay.lumber up/towards/into/along etc• Stranger lumbered up and went to meet him.• Slowly the boiler began to rattle and, sure enough, it lumbered into life.• The Subway Series lumbers along like a freight train overloaded with nitroglycerine on a mountain pass.• Then one day Mark was lumbering up Parliament Hill, and Babur came running up from behind.• It approaches Rome, lumbering up the Appian Way, doubling its size every few minutes.• After she had oiled the hinges, she paused a moment before lumbering up the stairs.• Instead of proceeding at his normal brisk trot, he lumbered up the step-ladder and heaved himself ponderously inside the machine's cabin.• Roused, the Monsignor hiked the skirt of his voluminous cassock and lumbered up to the podium.get/be lumbered with something• Yours truly got lumbered with delivering all the Christmas boxes and of course, each time I got asked in.• And they were lumbered with me.• I was lumbered with one hairstyle and that's the way it would stay.lumberlumber2 noun [uncountable] 1 TAFpieces of wood used for building, that have been cut to specific lengths and widths SYN timber2 British English informalTHING large objects that are no longer useful or wantedExamples from the Corpus
lumber• I love these woods, even as we harvest lumber from them.• Fast-growing forest trees could do more than increase the world's sup ply of lumber and pulp.• Only a pile of broken concrete, loose bricks and splintered lumber remained.From Longman Business Dictionarylumberlum‧ber /ˈlʌmbə-ər/ noun [uncountable] wood that has been prepared for saleSYNTIMBERThe company operates 50 lumber and building material retail stores.Origin lumber1 1. (1300-1400) Perhaps from a Scandinavian language. 2. (1800-1900) → LUMBER2 lumber2 (1600-1700) lumber “disused furniture and other objects” ((16-21 centuries)), perhaps from lombard “shop where money is lent in exchange for objects” ((16-19 centuries)) 