Forms: see TIMBER sb.1 [OE. timbran and timbrian = OS. timbrian (MDu., Du. timmeren), OHG. zimberen, zimbarôn (MHG. zimber(e)n, Ger. zimmern), ON. timbra (Sw. timbra, Da. tömmre), Goth. and OTeut. timr-jan, f. *tim-r- TIMBER sb.1]
1. trans. To build, construct, make (as a house, ship, etc.); spec. (in later use) to build or construct of wood. Obs. or arch.
a. 750. Cædmon’s Gen., 1692. Weall slænenne up forð timbran.
a. 900. trans. Bæda’s Eccl. Hist., III. xvii. [xxiii.] (1890), 232. Neowan stowe mynster to timbrenne oðþe cirican.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xvi. 18. Ofer þisne stan ic timbriʓe mine cyricean.
c. 1200. Ormin, 13368. To timmbrenn himm an haliȝ hus.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2015. Sche chold sone be bischet … In a ful tristy tour timbred for þe nones.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 2010 (MS. Dubl.). Þar fand he tembret on þe topp & tyldit vp a cyte.
1565–73. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Contabulo, Contabulare murum turribus … to make towers, to tymber plankes euen with the walles.
1857. Sir F. Palgrave, Norm. & Eng., II. 128. Here had Guillaume timbered and thatched a rustic habitation.
b. absol.; spec. of a bird, to build (scil. its nest).
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., lviii. 445. On ðæm botle, ðær ðær we timbran willen.
a. 1100. Gerefa, in Anglia (1886), IX. 261. Me mæiʓ on sumera … tymbrian, wudian, weodian, faldian.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 8763 (Cott.). Quils he was timberand to þis thing.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XI. 352. Moche merueilled me … who tauȝte hem [birds] on trees to tymbre so heighe.
1692. R. L’Estrange, Fables, lxxii. 71. There was a Bargain struck up betwixt an Eagle and a Fox. The One Took-up in a Thicket of Brushwood, and the Other Timber’d upon a Tree hard by.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Timber (in Falconry), to nestle, to make a Nest; as Birds of Prey do.
† c. with advb. extension: To build up. Obs.
1555. W. Watreman, Fardle Facions, II. vii. 156. They timbre vp drie stickes together.
† 2. fig. To construct, frame, effect, do, form, cause, bring about, bring into existence or operation (any action, condition, etc.). Obs.
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past. C., xxxiii. 215. Ða godon weorc ðe he … ær … timbrede.
a. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), cxxviii[i]. 2 [3]. Ofer minum bæce bitere ongunnon þa firenfullan facen timbrian.
c. 1205. Lay., 6620. Hit wes vmbe fif winter … seoððen he þas seorȝe him seolfen hæfde itimbred.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 124. Þeos hond … haueð itimbred me þe bliscen of heouene.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 3742. That traytoure … That this tresone has tymbyrde to my trewe lorde.
c. 1450. Bone Flor., 560. That hath tymberde all my teene.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., I. v. 14. Heads that were never timber’d for it.
† 3. To make up or add fuel to (a fire). Obs.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, F vij b. A ffyre Tymbered.
1513. Bk. Kerving, in Babees Bk. (1868), 265. Tymbre that fyre.
1530. Palsgr., 758/2. I tymber a fyre, je accoustre, or je mets a poynt.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 85/1. Timber the Fire, is to mend the Fire, make it burn better, by putting more Fuel or Wood or Coles to it.
4. To furnish with timber. (See also TIMBERED ppl. a.) † a. To supply or arm with spears: cf. TIMBER sb.1 5. Obs.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), II. 98. The earle of Angus was weill temmert witht so money sharp speiris and lang.
b. To put in or apply timber to support the roof of a mine or working, the sides of a shaft or a trench, the roof and sides of a tunnel, etc.
1702. Savery, Miner’s Friend, 6. The more Shafts or Pits are sunk, the more Wood-work will be necessarily imployed in Timbering them.
1725. T. Thomas, in Portland Papers (Hist. MSS. Comm.), VI. 106. The lining of it [the pit shaft] with wood in order to hinder it from falling in, is timbering of it.
1844. Simms, Pract. Tunnelling, xii. 121. The leaving the lower part of the excavation without being timbered was not general throughout the tunnel.
1872. R. B. Smyth, Mining Statist., 62. The new shaft … has been sunk, timbered, and centred to a depth of 260 feet.
1904. Times, 28 Jan., 10/4. The gang had to timber up the roof.
c. To cover or frame with timber or wood.
1850. Hawthorne, Scarlet L., i. (1883), 67. A wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak.
1904. Westm. Gaz., 26 Aug., 3/1. If you have the floor of the butt timbered or stoned.
5. intr. Of a tree: To form timber. ? Obs.
1610. [implied in TIMBERING vbl. sb. and ppl. a.].
† 6. trans. Timber out, to divide (timber) into beams, planks, etc., suited for building. Also fig.
1628. MS. Acc. St. John’s Hosp., Canterb. To appoynte the tymber to be brought home and to be tymbered out for diuerse vses. Ibid. (1637). Payed for timberinge out of our woode j s.
1662. Hibbert, Body Div., I. 69. Many men engage in undertakings, for which their heads were never squared or timbred out.
