lumber

Etymology

Exact origin unknown. The earliest recorded reference was to heavy, useless objects such as old, discarded furniture. Perhaps from the verb lumber in reference to meaning "awkward to move". Possibly influenced by Lumbar, an obsolete variant of Lombard, the Italian immigrant class known for being pawnbrokers and money-lenders in early England.

noun

1. (Canada, US) Wood sawn into planks or otherwise prepared for sale or use, especially as a building material.
   Here they live by fishing on the most plentiful coasts in the world; there they fell trees, by the sides of large rivers, for masts and lumber […]. 1782, H. de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer
   4 December 1883, Chester A. Arthur, Third State of the Union Address The resources of Alaska, especially in fur, mines, and lumber, are considerable in extent and capable of large development, while its geographical situation is one of political and commercial importance.;
2. (now rare) Old furniture or other items that take up room, or are stored away.
   We made all haste down stairs, and soon threw open the street door, for the reception of as much lumber, of all sorts, as our house would hold, brought into it by several who thought it necessary to move their furniture. 1783, William Cowper, letter, 10 November
3. (figurative) Useless or cumbrous material.
4. (obsolete) A pawnbroker's shop, or room for storing articles put in pawn; hence, a pledge, or pawn.
   a. 1746, Lady Grisell Baillie Murray, Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of the Right Honourable George Baillie They put all the little plate they had […] in the lumber, which is pawning it, till the ships came.
5. (baseball, slang) A baseball bat.
6. (vulgar, slang) An erect penis.

verb

1. (intransitive) To move clumsily and heavily; to move slowly.
   2002, Russell Allen, "Incantations of the Apprentice", on Symphony X, The Odyssey. Through eerie reach of ancient woods / Where lumbering mists arise / I journey for nines moons of the year / To where a land of legend lies
2. (transitive, with with) To load down with things, to fill, to encumber, to impose an unwanted burden on.
   They’ve lumbered me with all these suitcases.
   I got lumbered with that boring woman all afternoon.
3. To heap together in disorder.
   so much stuff lumberd together 1677, Thomas Rymer, The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider'd
4. To fill or encumber with lumber.
   to lumber up a room