lumbering
lumbering Lexical Profile
lumbering Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Moving in a slow, heavy, and awkward manner, often because of great size or bulk.
"The tourists watched from a safe distance as a lumbering bear ambled across the meadow."
• noun
North American The business or industry of cutting down trees, preparing the timber, and transporting logs to market.
"In the nineteenth century, lumbering was the primary economic driver for many towns across the Pacific Northwest."
• Rhymes for lumbering
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
The adjective sense meaning 'moving heavily or clumsily' derives from the Middle English verb 'lumbren' (14th century), probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Swedish 'lombra' (to resound or rumble). The noun sense relating to timber developed in 17th-century North America from earlier British English 'lumber', meaning bulky, disused household items that took up space.